


Incision

by DizzlyPuzzled



Series: Engrave [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Danny Phantom
Genre: Angst, Hurt Danny, M/M, Torture, characters already dead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-29
Updated: 2018-04-20
Packaged: 2019-03-11 02:22:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 45,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13514733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DizzlyPuzzled/pseuds/DizzlyPuzzled
Summary: After two years, he finally has the courage to stand up, and with him by his side; nothing is impossible.





	1. Prologue

Incision

_Prologue_

_Show me a Hero and I’ll write you a Tragedy._

_Scott Fitzgerald_

* * *

 

               Damian slammed the door to the apartment that he had bought as a safe house. It took him a few months to get it set up so his father didn’t know about it, but it was worth it. Especially when he found Danny over a year ago, he needed somewhere for his friend to stay.

               They had met while he was on patrol without Batman. Danny had been stealing food from a local market, but no one could figure it out. Robin wanted to know who was desperate enough to steal food and other supplies. Sometimes there was money left on the counter after, but never enough to cover what was taken.

               But nothing of real value had been taken, and Batman figured it should be left to the police, but Damian thought otherwise, and since there hadn’t been anything big in the past few weeks, he would stake out the building and see if their thief came around.

               That’s when he noticed Danny. Danny had been the one stealing, but there was something off about his movements, and Damian knew that the teen was injured severely and probably needed medical attention. He went to go down when suddenly the teen vanished into thin air.

* * *

 

_Danny was running and he knew there wasn’t much time before he either got the attention of Batman or…them. He couldn’t keep going without resting, and he hoped that Gotham was crime ridden enough that they wouldn’t notice right away that something was off._

_He slipped into the store silently checking to see how much money he was able to get from the streets. He only had about six dollars, but he would leave it for the store. He knew it wasn’t enough, but he needed to change the bandages and get more food for the week. He knew it was dangerous, but as long as there were no security cameras he should be okay for a little while longer. He already felt better, and hopefully it would only be a few more weeks before he could leave again._

_That hope was short lived when a shadow fell over him while he was grabbing the larger bandages from the bottom shelf. He felt his throat constrict before looking up. His heart fell when he realized it wasn’t the Batman._

_It was the new Robin. The one that caused many criminals to run away in fear. The one who they were afraid would cross that line._

_Robin kneeled down next to him cautiously. Danny held the bandages tighter. His powers were damn near inaccessible at the moment till it healed. He hoped. He had the basics, but even that may not be enough to get away from the hero._

_“Would you like some help?” Robin asked making Danny weary. No one ever offered to help him; he was a runaway with no future._

_He’s heard that enough._

_“Listen, you can’t keep doing this,” Robin started. “These people need to make a living too. If it was a bigger store, I probably wouldn’t care as much, but then again, they have security. So again, would you like some help?”_

_“That would be nice,” Danny answered slowly rising up with Robin following suit. He held the bandages close to his chest. “They need changed…I haven’t been able to…” Robin held out his hand for the bandages._

_“Not from here, follow me,” Robin ordered before turning around and heading out. Danny put the bandages down before following the other teen and hoping like hell he didn’t end up dead._

_Or back in that lab._

_“Where are we going?” Danny asked when they started down an alleyway. Robin kicked over a door before walking in. Danny looked around before realizing that the little shop was next to apartments that had definitely seen better days._

_“A safe house. You can stay there for a couple days,” Robin informed as he opened one of the doors. The room was bare except for a couch that pulled out and a small table. There were cabinets along the wall, and when Robin opened one, it held almost enough medical supplies to stock an ambulance._

_“Thank you,” Danny whispered wrapping his arms gently around himself. He could use a good cleaning, and this was more than enough to get him by. Robin turned to him._

_“Your chest is injured, correct?” Robin was curt, but not unkind. Danny looked away from him._

_“I can get it myself.”_

_“I’m helping,” Robin insisted pulling the bandages and wraps from the cabinet and pulling some antiseptic just in case. “Is it a burn or bruise or?”_

_“An… incision,” Danny whispered feeling vomit in the back of his throat. He could still feel the hands._

_“Alright, take off your shirt. You’re going to need cleaned before we change this. The bathroom is down the hall, but I would like to look at it before you go,” Robin said as he pulled what he believed he would need. He couldn’t believe he was sacrificing a safe house for some random kid. Of course, Batman had already found it, so it didn’t really matter in the long run if anything happened._

_“Alright,” Danny sighed. He needed something, but Robin was suddenly in front of him after he removed his shirt and was already taking off the bandages with careful hands. Danny felt fear crawl up his spine at the closeness that the other boy was at._

_He couldn’t breathe._

_“Oh my god,” Robin whispered as he finished. He held a slight fear when he revealed the top of the lines, but even his grandfather would never do something like this to another person._

_There was no honor in it. You kill something, but you never torture unless there was something to gain. But this wasn’t just torture, this was experimentation._

_“What happened?” Robin asked looking into haunted eyes._

_“They figured it out,” Danny whispered staring at the hero. “And I couldn’t get away.”_

* * *

 

               Damian flinched with the memory. It was the first time he really had a leap of faith in someone. Danny was quiet, and did whatever it was that was asked of him. A couple months later, Damian let him know who he was, and told him his story.

               In return, Danny told him how he tried to do the right thing. How he wanted so badly to be a hero, but all he got was hate. He wanted nothing more than to help, and he would have been fine if they had just listened.

               No one ever listened to the ghost though. Damian hoped that one day he could help the kind soul who tried everything he could to save those he cared about, but failed in the end. He hoped he could help him be the hero that Damian knew he was.

               “Danny? Are you here?” Damian called as he walked into the living room. This condo was much nicer than any of the other safe houses, and was much harder to hide from Bruce, but he managed. It helped when he was able to put everything in Danny’s name.

               “Yeah, I’m in the kitchen,” Danny yelled. Damian smiled. Sure he wasn’t sure what the big deal was with being gay or bi, but Danny was nice enough to help him figure it out. Bruce didn’t need to know anything about it, and Damian only hoped that this one thing could be kept from Bruce for a long while yet. It was something that was all him. Something that felt like it was all his own. Without outside influence.

               “What are you doing?” Damian asked as he walked behind the hybrid. He had been trying to get Danny to change into ghost form since he was healed enough to use more than just the basic powers, but Danny was afraid. Damian understood that fear, but something was going on, and he had a feeling that Danny might end up involved.

               Who knows how badly they damaged Phantom when they were experimenting.

               “Well, I was making pizza if you want some?” Danny smiled at him before leaning against the counter. “I thought you were going to come later.”

               “I think Father is trying to figure out where I’m running off to,” Damian said with a hint of worry. He did not want the Batman to interrogate Danny. Danny was not ready for that.

               “That sounds like fun,” Danny laughed, but Damian could tell he was nervous. He was a very bad lair. “The pizza should be done in a few minutes.”

               “I can think of a few things to do in those few minutes,” Damian grinned mischievously before grabbing Danny’s hand and pulling him into the living room again. Danny was smiling as Damian started kissing his neck.

               “This normally turns into something much longer, and if you burn my pizza, you’re ordering and paying for the…holy crap,” Danny complained and moaned as Damian pulled him down on the couch.

* * *

 

               Nightwing stared at the screen where Bruce had asked him to follow Damian and see where the kid was running off to. Bruce was concerned that he was out doing something bad, that he might be taking things too far again.

               However, on the screen were clearly two people completely at ease with other in the same sense that he was with Kory. Now, he just needed to figure out a way to tell Bruce that he probably has nothing to worry about when it comes to Robin going too far, but Damian taking things too far with whoever he was with. Nightwing needed to figure who this girl was before Bruce decides to crash in there and see what exactly is going on.

* * *

 

               “You are so lucky my pizza did not get burned,” Danny grumbled. Upset that Damian stopped with the timer to the oven went off and glad that he had food. Damian laughed as he snatched another piece off Danny’s plate. “Will you get your own!” Danny pulled his plate away from the thief. “There’s plenty in there.”

               “Doesn’t taste as good unless it stolen from your plate though,” Damian defended as the door bell rang. They both froze. No one should know this place is here. Even when they ordered take out and had it delivered, it was always next door where no one lived and Danny would just phase though the walls. Damian stood up and glared at the door when the bell rang again.

               “Who could…?” Danny started only for Damian to raise his hand for Danny to be quiet.

               “Stay,” Damian ordered before heading for the door. He wished there was a peephole, but he also knew that those could be dangerous as well. The bell rang again before someone knocked on the door.

               “I know you’re in there, Damian,” Grayson called and Damian now realized why it had been easy losing Bruce’s tail. Grayson was following him. He should have known that the both of them had been in on it.

               “What do you want?” Damian growled out as he opened the door. Grayson stood there expecting to be let in once the door was open.

               “We are not doing this in the hall. I know you have a girl in there, but we seriously need to talk,” Grayson informed pushing at the door only for Damian to growl at him again.

               “You followed me,” he accused. “Why can’t you just leave me alone for a little while?”

               “Cause Bruce is worried, and you know how he gets when he’s worried,” Grayson taunted pushing the door back looking at the room. Danny was sitting on the couch still glaring at the new comer. Grayson swallowed realizing that maybe a teenage pregnancy was not something he should be concerned about anymore. It did explain why Damian was being extra careful. “I was not…”

               “You tell anyone, they will not be able to find your body,” Damian threatened slamming the door shut. Danny stood up nervous about someone having figured out where he was.

               “I’m pretty sure Bruce would not let that happen,” Grayson said realizing that Damian was protective of someone besides himself. Now Grayson needed to know why this kid of all people. “I’m Dick Grayson.”

               “Damian’s older adopted brother who likes to stick his nose where it doesn’t belong. I figured,” Danny crossed his arms. Grayson turned to Damian waiting for introductions since the other teen clearly wasn’t to tell him who he was even though he clearly knew who Dick was.

               “Why did you show up instead of just telling Father where I was?” Damian asked covering for Danny. He was not going to let them get near Danny. Danny was his.

               “Well, I was going to see if I could get an excuse from you, but this wasn’t really what I was expecting,” Grayson said looking back at Danny. He needed to know this kid. He knew exactly what he seen though that window not half an hour ago.

               “Great, you’ve successfully invaded my privacy, now leave,” Damian demanded pointing towards the door while glaring at Dick.

               “You know, I have to tell Bruce something,” Dick said knowing that he was going to pay later when they all went out on patrol together. Something big was going down, which was why Bruce had asked him to come. He didn’t want to, but no one was sure what else to make of it.

               “Tell him you lost me,” Damian suggested before opening the door again. “Now leave.”

               “Fine, but I’m going to find out who your boy toy is,” Grayson pointed to the teen who was standing at the couch glaring at him as well. After Damian slammed the door for the third time that day, Danny glared at him.

               “You’re going to break that door eventually,” Danny said smugly. “You got caught.”

               “Shut up,” Damian growled glaring at Danny before turning towards the kitchen.

               He wanted to keep the lives he lived separate from each other. At least until Danny wanted to patrol with them. He was teaching Danny some defensive and offensive combat. Danny was a quick learner who also had his own style.

               He even showed a few things he picked to Damian who was interested in knowing that ghosts also had their own fighting styles. It was hard to pick up since gravity was a major factor.

               Now, Grayson knew about him and Damian was worried about Danny.

* * *

 

               “You gonna be okay?” Danny asked as he gently traced over the cape on Damian. Damian sighed as he finished pulling his gloves on.

               “Yeah, I’ll be fine. I just really don’t want to have this discussion with my father,” Damian said as he looked at Danny. He hoped to get Danny out there someday. From the stories he told, he knew how to be a hero; all he needed was someone to believe in him again.

               “Tell him to fuck off,” Danny suggested with a smile. Damian glared at him.

               “I would never be allowed to leave the mansion after that,” he informed pulling Danny closer to him. “How are the nightmares?” Danny looked down between them where they were pressed together.

               “I’ve only had one so far this week, so they’re getting better. My powers don’t feel like they’re trying to overwhelm me anymore,” Danny whispered. “I…If you’re not in trouble and can come this weekend, I would like to see if I can change.”

               “Really?” Damian smiled. He had read as much as he could about The Phantom of Amity Park, but there was so little he could get access to that wouldn’t raise any flags that it was nearly impossible to even believe that the hero existed. There were no newspaper or articles about the heroics of the ghost, but there were plenty that painted Danny in a very bad light.

               “I think it would be good to know if my other half is good, and maybe work my powers a bit more,” Danny said as he looked back up at Damian before reaching for the hero’s mask on the table and putting it on him. “I mean, I know you wanted to see Phantom up close since you couldn’t find anything, but…maybe it’s time I stopped trying to hide.”

               “You don’t owe anyone anything, Danny,” Damian pressed. “You never did. That’s what made you a hero.”

               “Maybe I owe myself something,” Danny smiled before pulling Damian close and kissing him. Damian leaned in with a smile as well.

* * *

* * *

 

 

 


	2. Beginning of Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Going Ghost

Incision

Chapter One

_Beginning of Time_

_It's not easy to be a hero. You do it because of what you believe, not because of what other people deserve._

_Patty Jenkins_

* * *

Danny watched in horror as the bank was taken hostage. Just before closing, and one of the best times to get the attention of Batman. Danny didn't know if he should be worried about Damian being able to come later or worried that he would and tell him about what happened. He needed a distraction from his powers which seemed to be growing. He remembered the extreme cold feeling when his ice powers first came in and how very close he came to nearly freezing to death.

Now it seemed that it was happening again, and he wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not. His ghost side seems more to the surface, but that also made it easier to track. Furthermore, he also knew that with his powers growing, he had to burn the excess off or it could potentially kill him. He hoped he could at the very least last until the weekend so he had Damian there to ensure that if something did go wrong when he changed, he would at least have help.

He remembered the fear when he first realized that the basic ghost powers were all he had access to, and that Phantom would not come to the surface at all.

* * *

_Damian listened as Danny tried to explain a bit more of his powers. It was hard to understand that the kid he helped three months ago was the same one who was pacing the study with fear on his face._

" _I don't think I can do the things I could before. I think they…" Danny trailed off as he stopped. He had no way of knowing how badly damaged Phantom was to begin with. He knew he couldn't change, but he had hoped that once the wound had healed that he would have all his powers back._

" _You don't need your powers to be a hero," Damian tried to comfort but Danny just turned a glare to him. The boy was learning a lot about how to be a teenager from Danny, but he still wasn't sure about this. Neither was Danny since he wasn't completely human. Damian felt like he had a kindred spirit in the hybrid when he learned about the powers that Danny held._

" _No, it's not…that…My powers are a part of me. Not being to reach them is like being unable to reach a part of my being…it's an empty feeling," Danny tried to explain. They were usually able to have the other understand of bit of their problems. They both had times where they felt like they weren't human at all, and times where they weren't sure what being human meant._

" _You said you didn't know a lot about your powers, but you knew how to use them," Damian said as he grabbed Danny by the shoulders to stop the hybrid's pacing. "Maybe they know you're not ready, and are waiting dormant until such a time. You said it yourself; they are a part of you." Danny smiled at Damian before looking at the floor._

_Who was he without Phantom?_

_Was he even still human?_

* * *

Robin growled as Batman ordered him to stay behind while he went ahead with Nightwing. Now he was being sentenced back into watch duty. He hated it, but he didn't want Batman to find Danny, and hopefully Nightwing kept his mouth shut about it. Otherwise, Robin was going to convince Danny to practice his powers on Grayson.

Robin smiled at the thought when a scream tore through the streets. Of course, here comes the hostages, and then Batman and Nightwing pull out Two-Face and his cronies. Robin glared at them. He kinda wished he had skipped out of patrol tonight if this was how the night was going to go with Batman.

Batman and Nightwing disappeared fairly quickly, and when Robin turned he watched the former partners appear on the other side of building.

"Damian, we need to talk," Batman said as he walked. "Dick told me about your friend."

"You're dead, Grayson," Robin growled pointing at the other hero who put his hands up in surrender.

"Hey, he needed to know, and I wasn't going to lie to him," Nightwing defended himself. Batman glared at Robin.

"What does your friend think you do at night?" Batman asked and this was the type of questioning that Robin wanted to avoid since Danny kinda figured out who everyone was after Robin told him who he was.

"Why does it matter?" Robin growled. He knew it was the wrong thing to say when Batman narrowed his eyes at him. Robin was pretty sure Danny's inability to lie is contagious or something since now Batman was suspicious.

"You've been slipping away more often these past six months, and hardly ever on patrol. You mind telling me who this friend is since you didn't give a name to Dick," Batman crossed his arms. Robin glared at the ground.

"Danny. His name is Danny, and both of you will leave him alone. He isn't a threat, and he isn't going to hurt anyone," Robin glared at both of them waiting for something. They were always weary of his friends since he didn't make them easily and some of his previous friends tried to kill them all.

Danny wouldn't do that though. Robin was sure of that when Danny first told him about his powers after Robin showed him who he was.

* * *

" _Danny?" Robin asked as he walked into the living room of the second safe house he set up for Danny. This one was one that Batman knew about but never went to. Robin was afraid of leaving him in one place for too long._

" _I'm coming," Danny called as Robin could hear the running water in the back. Danny appeared looking a little sleep deprived and severely freaked out. Robin walked up to him and took a good look at him._

" _Are you okay?" Robin asked as Danny stared at his hand._

" _No, not really…I…just no," Danny sighed before looking up at the hero. Robin took off his mask making Danny blink. Of course he had no idea who this person was, but clearly some kind of trust had been built up._

_Robin had also just been lectured on learning how to trust other people and he wanted Danny to trust him._

" _I may have not…trusted you…" Robin was cut off as Danny walked up to him._

" _You don't owe anyone anything. You are more than capable of making your own decisions. You don't owe me trust or anything," Danny informed with a small smile. "I'm glad that I have it though. It's hard to trust people you don't know very well."_

" _And you?" Robin asked looking at Danny curious. Most people would be falling over themselves, but Danny was calm, almost like he had been in the same situation._

" _I was Phantom from Amity Park," Danny looked away in shame. "I tried, but…I couldn't do it by myself, and I didn't really have any backup when things got really bad. None that could be of any help at least when they started coming for me."_

" _I've never heard of you," Robin said as Danny raised his hand and let it disappear._

" _Probably not. It's been a while since I've…It's been a while," Danny amended feeling like the floor fell out from under him. Robin winced when Danny wrapped his arms around the hero and started crying._

* * *

"No, I don't want you to meet him," Damian growled crossing his arms as they entered the Bat Cave. "He's a friend, and I don't want you guys chasing him off with a bunch of unnecessary questions."

"Damian, he might not be…" Bruce began before Damian growled at him and raised his sword.

"I've known him for over a year now, I can trust him. Sometimes I feel like I can trust him more than either of you. He doesn't follow me when he doesn't know where I'm going at least," Damian shot as he readied to defend his friend.

"You told him," Bruce stated plainly. Of course, Damian wanted some sort of freedom, but even Dick knew better, and the only person he told was a fellow hero that he was involved with. But to tell a random stranger that wasn't from their world? That was crossing a line. "You put all of us in danger."

"He wouldn't tell anyone," Damian defended glaring at Bruce. He wasn't going to tell them that Danny had been a fallen hero. That he had been on the front lines more than once.

That people like Bruce caused the fear that caused the hybrid pain.

"You don't know that," Bruce said glaring at his son. "He could…"

"I know him, and he wouldn't," Damian sighed. He didn't want to fight. It'd been a while since Bruce really got under his skin. Danny helped him realized that getting angry wasn't really going to fix anything. So much had changed, and he just now realized how much. "I'm not doing this with you today or again." Damian turned around and headed for his motorcycle. He wasn't staying here.

"You leave, you're not going on patrol for a month," Bruce threatened only to Damian to turn to him.

"Then, it doesn't really matter what I do since every time you've threatened me with that, you make patrol a nightmare anyway," Damian informed before taking off leaving Dick confused.

There was always a blow up when Bruce threatened to bench him.

"Maybe we should leave it alone," Dick questioned looking at Bruce. "I mean, he didn't explode and he seemed pretty calm…compared to most of the time."

"Find out as much as you can about Danny," Bruce ordered before heading to the computer. "I'm going to see what exactly Two-Face's plan is." Dick sighed.

"Yeah, I'm not going to look into Danny for you, but maybe…" Dick trailed off as he grabbed his own motorcycle. He needed to talk to Danny without Damian there. Maybe he could figure out a way to get Bruce to back off and not destroy the clear relationship his brother found himself in.

* * *

"Every time… I mean seriously, I ask Grayson one thing, and he can't even…" Damian continued to pace across the living room. He knew blowing up at Bruce was only to make matters worse, but Danny never antagonized him when he was angry. He felt like he could work his anger out and not have it fester under the surface for the next few weeks.

"I'm ordering Chinese, and we're having movie night early," Danny informed as he grabbed his phone. Damian turned to Danny knowing that sometimes Danny needed distraction as well.

"I didn't mean to unload everything on you all at once," Damian apologized. Danny was the only one he thought deserved to be apologized to. Danny seemed like the best person in the world, and Damian wasn't going to let anyone else hurt the hybrid anymore than he already had been.

"It's fine, but now that they know, you know they're going to start digging," Danny reminded as he placed the order online. He was so not going to talk to anyone on the phone.

"I know, so I was wondering if you wanted to stay here or find a new place since this one was compromised?" Damian asked. The last time Danny was ready to move at the slightest mention of being found.

"I'll stay. I want to work on using my powers again, and if they do cause trouble, I can at least know what I'm up against," Danny informed. "Besides, the last time it took you two weeks to find a new place and moved me to at least three different safe houses, and needless to say, it was annoying."

"So you're going to stay here?" Damian asked in surprise. He was happy that he didn't have to go through all the work of setting up another safe house on short notice, but sad that this meant that his family and Danny were going to meet sooner rather than later.

Damian never wanted the lives to crossover like this, but he couldn't control everything Danny wanted, and Danny was a force to be reckoned with if he was pissed off.

"May as well," Danny smiled at him. "It's safe from anyone else, and from what you told me, Bruce might still not know where it is. Grayson may have only told part of it. I'll be fine, and you know that." Damian sat down next to Danny on the couch before leaning against him.

"You're awesome," Damian sighed as he wrapped his arms around Danny who laughed. "So, how long we got before the food arrives?"

"About half an hour," Danny answered as Damian leaned into his neck and started kissing it. Danny groaned lightly as Damian pushed him down into the couch. "I…wanted to ask…"

"Yeah?" Damian whispered pausing right above Danny's face. Danny swallowed slightly as he caught his breath.

"This weekend…I wanted to try my powers, and we need somewhere to go…my powers…are…well, they're pretty much obvious, I guess would be a good way to put it," Danny tried to explain as Damian huffed out a light laugh.

"I'll think of something. Do you want to try at least changing? Maybe it would help alleviate some of the pressure?" Damian suggested as he gently traced the bottom of Danny's shirt with his hands. He kinda wanted to take it further, but wasn't going to do anything that Danny was uncomfortable with.

"I don't know," Danny sighed as he relaxed back into the couch some more. Damian lifted himself up so he was completely over top of Danny, nearly crushing him into the couch.

"We could do it now? It shouldn't hurt, and according to you, any tracker probably isn't even in Gotham," Damian said watching Danny who was looking up at the ceiling considering his options.

"Alright, get off, and let's see if I can even change still," Danny agreed as he sat up only for Damian to lean in for one more kiss before getting off. "You're impossible."

"Hey, that's your fault," Damian countered knowing that a lot of what changed was in direct reaction to how the hybrid handled things. Danny never pushed him and always treated him with respect. Even when he seemed high strung and was ready for blood, Danny managed to talk him down somehow.

It made Damian feel much more human and normal than anything that Bruce ever tried.

"Alright, so here goes everything," Danny whispered as he closed his eyes. "I'm going ghost."

"You have a catch phrase!" Damian laughed as Danny glared at him with sudden green eyes as bright light appeared around his waist.

"Shut your mouth," Danny growled playfully as the rings traveled across his body changing his form. A black cloak surrounded him at first and Damian knew that this was something amazing. Something that broke all the rules. The air surrounding them turned cold as the rings passed over Danny's head and feet before disappearing leaving a white haired teen behind.

"That was so cool," Damian whispered noting how the cloak picked up in a nonexistent wind. A black jumpsuit was under the black cloak with white lining. White gloves and boots covered Phantom's arms and feet while armor similar to his own covered them. There was a faint glow surrounding Phantom showing his unearthly being. Bright toxic green eyes stared at Damian lightly before a smile appeared on Phantom's face.

"Alright, I feel fantastic," Phantom smiled as he lightly floated over the floor now. "My powers don't feel over…" he was cut off by the doorbell making both teens freeze. Phantom changed back as Damian walked up to the door and opened it to reveal Grayson standing there with the delivery guy.

"Uh…" the delivery man started seeing how the teenager behind the door looked ready to kill the other guy next to him. "It's 34.54."

"Great, make him pay," Damian pointed to Grayson who looked angry before pulling out a fifty and handing it to the guy.

"Keep the change," Grayson said as Damian took the food and walked into the apartment while Grayson followed. "What the hell, Damian?"

"You came here, and pissed me off, so you get to pay for my Chinese," Damian stated as he handed Danny the first box in the bag. Danny glared at Grayson again.

"Any reason you're here?" Danny asked as he sat down on the couch with his box and opened it. "Damian, this is yours." Damian walked over and traded them before sitting next to Danny as Grayson sat on the armchair.

"I just…Bruce is royally pissed at you, Damian," Grayson informed watching the two carefully. Neither of them seemed concerned about that, and Grayson knew that they were hiding something more than just the fact that Damian had been helping Danny.

"So? It isn't different from before anyway. He's always mad at me for something," Damian said as he opened his box. "No difference, besides, I can spend extra time with Danny since he pulled me from patrol." Damian looked over to Danny quickly when he slipped as the hybrid choked on a piece of his chicken. "Alright there?"

"Yeah, I'm good," Danny mumbled as he held his chest. Grayson already knew that Danny knows about them, but apparently Damian did not inform him of that they knew he knew.

"So, my brother told you about us, but hasn't really said a lot about you," Grayson said sending a quick glare at Damian before looking back at Danny who had stopped choking and was staring at his rice box.

"That's not really my problem. He needed someone to talk to with an outside point of view, and I was there," Danny said as he looked up. He did not want them knowing about his powers until he knew he could control them fully again. Until he knew exactly what was left of Phantom after the six months of torture over a year ago.

"What I tell him is none of your business," Damian injected glaring at Grayson and pointing a piece of beef at him threatening.

"Yes it is when it's my identity that you shared," Grayson growled out. He didn't like people knowing, and it probably came from Bruce's own trust issues from when he was Robin.

"No fighting," Danny glared at both of them making the room seem just a tad more ominous. Damian knew what happened the moment it did. Danny told him about how ghosts can charge energy into the environment and make humans feel like someone was watching them. It was something happened rarely, but now that Danny could change, it would be far easier for him to slip his energy into the air.

Grayson looked way too alert for Damian's comfort. He knew something was probably up with Danny by now, and that couldn't be a good thing.

"We're not. I'm just not comfortable with a complete stranger knowing who I am," Grayson growled standing up and crossing his arms. Danny followed with narrowed eyes before Damian also jumped up between them.

"That's enough," Damian ordered glaring at the two. Danny straightened back and let Damian take the lead, but Grayson only took a step forward.

"Damian, I know you want someone to talk to…" Grayson started only for Damian to raise a hand to him to silence him.

"No, I understand, but Danny won't tell anyone. I trust him, and you should too," Damian said as he looked at Grayson. "Now, can you please leave? I kinda wanted a quiet night with my boyfriend without being interrupted by my normal family drama." Grayson took a step back in surprise. Normally he was the level headed one, but now it was Damian wanting to stop the fighting. The one who normally tried to provoke others into fighting him whether it's physical or mind games was the one stopping it. Whatever kind of relationship was between the two ran a lot deeper than he originally thought.

Something was different about how Damian carried himself around Danny, and Grayson wondered if Danny had anything to do with the way the boy had changed into someone much more mild mannered in the past year.

"Alright, but this isn't over. I'm not going to blindly trust someone with my identity," Grayson said he walked up to the door.

"Don't go digging just yet," Danny called out before Grayson opened the door. He stopped and looked at Danny in confusion. "You won't like what you find, and when you do? You'll send people a lot worse than what you normally face. Most people believe themselves to be the heroes, but won't hesitant to kill a kid for their own gains and make it seem within their rights."

"What are you talking about?" Grayson asked looking over both of them. Damian seemed surprised with the information Danny did give, but Danny looked scared. Grayson realized that Damian was protecting him from someone. That he wasn't just a random kid anymore and that there was something more under the surface.

That looking into the kid might get him killed.

"Maybe sometime I'll tell you," Danny gave a weak smile, but the fear stayed there. Grayson knew he wouldn't go digging like he had planned. They were good, but Danny just said he would tell him at some point.

"I'll look forward to it," Grayson agreed before leaving. Damian turned to Danny with wide eyes.

"Same reason I didn't really want you looking into them. I don't want him to become a target too," Danny said as he sat back down. "There is so much…"

"You don't want him to dig into something that could tip them off, I know. You gave me the speech already. But you lead him into more than that," Damian said as he sat next to Danny who was just staring at the box of food on the table.

"If we're going to work with my powers, then they have the possibility of being able to track me," Danny explained closing his eyes as the pain of hands inside him came. "I can't do that again…I don't think I'll be able to handle all that again, so I need people to have my back. You…you gave me that and much more. I don't want to put you in the line of fire, but I don't have to. You'll be there no matter what, and I know you can handle it. But if I can get your family to be there too, then they won't have a chance. No organization has survived an onslaught from you guys."

"I feel like you might be using me," Damian countered with a smile. It was the furthest from the truth. He trusted Danny more than he trusted himself most of the time. Danny's moral compass never seemed to waver like Batman's did. He was a bright light that seemed to guide people away from the dark.

"Never," Danny smiled as he felt a little lighter. The phantom pains died down, and he knew that tonight was going to be bad, but if Damian planned on staying, then he wasn't too worried. Damian was almost always able to calm him down from the nightmares.

* * *

_They walked around the mental table where he was strapped down. Glowing green cuffs were wrapped tightly around his wrists and ankles. He had already tried breaking out, but now he was held down with broken wrists. It hurt._

_It hurt so badly that it felt like his entire being was dying._

" _Well, we got what we could from the subject on the outside," the teal scientist said as she started pulling off the remaining tatters of his uniform. His cloak was hanging up near whatever piece of equipment they had been using to test different things on it to see its reaction._

" _Mads, are you sure?" the orange scientist asked. Something was wrong. Phantom was in pain that he shouldn't be capable of, he was still disproving every single one of their theories and he was starting to have second thoughts about continuing._

" _We can start tomorrow," Teal said as she locked the cage around the table. Phantom was good at escaping. Orange nodded as he grabbed a few things before looking back at Phantom closely. The ghost wasn't trying to defend himself anymore. He was trying to get away, but he wasn't moving as much as he should be. He wasn't healing, and that was concerning. Ghosts healed at a fast rate to ensure that the ectoplasm didn't completely deplete, but Phantom wasn't. He was bleeding like a human being._

_Like he was human._

_He heard his wife scream that they couldn't take their subject. That they were the ones who caught him. He watched as men in whites suits came down the stairs._

_Of course the Guys in White were coming, but there was nothing him or his wife could do as they took Phantom away in one of their own thermos. Of course they stole the design from FentonWorks since it seemed to be the only thing capable of capturing ghosts._

* * *

Danny shot up in a cold sweat at the nightmare. It wasn't the first time he had that one with his parents, but it'd been a while. He curled up on his side when he felt Damian's hands on his shoulder.

"Hey, you're alright," Damian whispered carefully wrapping his arms around the shaking hybrid. "You're here, in Gotham. You're safe. I've got you."

Damian hadn't been very good at comforting another person and thought it was pointless until he met Danny. He had done a lot of research in the first month after he realized how badly the nightmares were affecting Danny.

"Come on," Damian pulled a little at Danny's arms that were wrapped around his head. "I need you to look at me." Danny whimpered slightly as he tried to get away. "Danny, you're safe, I promise."

"I…it hurts, please stop," Danny begged making Damian lean over him.

"Danny, it's okay, you're okay, it'll stop just look at me," Damian promised gently shaking his shoulders. Danny slowly looked up at him before blinking.

"I'm in Gotham," Danny whispered leaning back and letting himself relax little. "I'm safe."

"You good?" Damian asked as he gently rested his head against Danny's.

"Yeah, thanks," Danny whispered feeling the shakes slowly die down. "I knew it was coming. I don't want to sleep anymore."

"I figured," Damian whispered looking at the clock that was blinking at five in the morning. At least they were able to sleep for five hours before being woken up by nightmares. "Come on, we have the day, and hopefully Grayson can cover me long enough that my father won't come looking."

"We could go somewhere," Danny suggested looking at Damian cautiously. They hardly ever really went out anywhere public partly because they didn't want attention, but it was early in the morning, and they might slip under the radar.

"Where?" Damian asked as he felt Danny shift under him. Danny always seemed to calm down faster when he was pressed against something warm. It was rare that Damian ever had to use the heated blanket for him, but there were times when the nightmares were really bad.

"Somewhere open, like the park maybe?" Danny said as he looked over at Damian. Damian looked at him carefully.

"Alright, but first let's get a shower," Damian suggested as he rolled over Danny making him grunt.

"That wasn't necessary," Danny grumbled as he rolled over and got up. He had no idea how Damian could be so awake in the morning. Even after being woken up by nightmares.

* * *

Dick played on the computer in his room a little wondering if he should go ahead and start looking into Danny. He looked up at the address of the apartment and it was in a Danny Fenton's name. Although he traced the money paying for it and realized that Damian was good at covering his tracks. None of it really seemed odd since he made it look like Danny worked for Wayne Enterprises. No one would find the discrepancies easily unless they were looking for them.

Which means that the name on the apartment was really Danny's name. Dick knew digging anymore would probably be a bad idea, especially after Danny warned him.

He knew that Dick could figure out his real name fairly easily, and he wondered why Damian let that happen unless they were planning something or Damian was hoping Bruce wouldn't notice. Which could be entirely possible if he thought he could keep Danny away from him.

"What are you hiding from, Danny?" Dick asked himself as he typed the name into his search bar, but he never hit enter. He wanted Damian's boyfriend to trust him too. He did deserve that much.

* * *

Bruce paced his study was he went over some of the company's finances. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but Damian was hiding something. He looked over it and couldn't find anything that showed a large sum of money being sent anywhere.

Damian was good, that was a fact. But if he told someone about them, then there was something more he was hiding. Bruce smiled as he pulled up the payroll list and searched for anyone named Danny. Fourteen people showed up, but only one caught his eye.

Daniel Fenton.

He remembered hearing about a missing kid from a town called Amity Park. Something big went down that caused the town to nearly shut down. The kid started it all, but nothing was really released from the town.

Bruce smiled a little when he went to his computer. He had a few tricks up his sleeves. He hacked into a government database that seemed to only be working in Amity. They're security was nothing, but when he started opening files he stopped.

Daniel James Fenton: Deceased.

Danny Phantom: Ghost Power Level 8.6

Bruce swallowed lightly reading though the file. There were lists of dates and times all from almost two years ago. He got to the one of the last pages saying how the ghost managed to escape. They were trying to track it, but had no luck.

Bruce wondered how exactly Danny managed to stay away from them before finding his way to Gotham. Bruce pulled up the address and looked at it closely. It was a good place for a safe house on the nicer end of the city. A perfect spot for someone like Damian to be able to get in and out without being seen even as Robin.

Bruce looked through the information and covered his tracks carefully before shutting it down. He didn't need anyone to back trace that. Especially if they could track it to Danny. What he found was an impossibility, and if that was what Damian was protecting, then Bruce understood why he didn't want them to know.

Bruce smiled as he started a new project though. These men weren't going to get their hands on Danny again if he had anything to do with it. Clearly not everything they did to the kid was in that file, but he wasn't going to dig anymore. He knew all he needed to.

Phantom had saved Amity before, and he knew it wasn't really worth to go all the way there when there was already someone taking care of the problems. However, he didn't realize how bad it had gotten. The Justice League was never called there, and the town seemed unwilling of their help when it was offered.

"Amity Park, the city of the Dead," Bruce whispered as he leaned back. The town was run down, and barely anyone lived there anymore. "Now what secrets did you hold before everything fell apart?"

* * *

Danny smiled slightly as Damian held his hand as they walked through the deserted part of the park. Damian didn't really want to deal with anyone, and Danny just wanted out of the apartment. He could still feel the pain in his wrists from them being broken, but Damian had helped reset them a little. They didn't feel so stiff anymore.

"Hey, you alright," Damian asked bumping his shoulder with Danny to pull him out of whatever musings he was in.

"Yeah, just…the nightmare was about before the government had me…when I was first captured," Danny whispered. "I don't understand why they wouldn't listen."

"Single minded people are always a problem," Damian said looking at Danny closely.

"They were my parents, Damian," Danny said stopping and making Damian turn to him. "They were supposed to listen."

"Did they know?" Damian asked. Of course, his mother tried to kill his father too, and at some point even him. He knew that feeling.

"I told them before they started the experiments. That I wasn't a ghost. That I was human, but I couldn't show them. My ghost half knew my human half couldn't take on that kind of pain. It was protecting me, and they wouldn't listen," Danny explained as tears formed in his eyes. "They wouldn't even consider checking for me just to make sure."

"I'm sorry," Damian whispered as he pulled Danny closer. "You're safe now though. I do care about you a lot. And I'll always listen."

"Thanks," Danny smiled as he hugged Damian. "That means a lot."

"That's why we started this whole relationship thing," Damian laughed as he hugged Danny back. "Besides, you always seem to be able to handle me being upset and angry all the time."

"You're a lot easier to handle than you think," Danny grinned back feeling a weight lift. "It's still pretty early, and not a lot of people are out. What kind of place could we go to play with a ghost?"

"Now that sounds like fun," Damian said as he looked around. The park would be too exposed and he wasn't sure if it would be a good idea to try the manor just yet. "Now we just need a good place to…" Damian stopped as his communicator went off. "Or…"

"I can…" Danny started only for Damian to pull him with him.

"You're coming with me, and you're going to be back up," Damian informed as they headed back towards the apartment. Danny smiled slightly.

"I doubt this is a good idea, but I'm guessing you're not giving me a choice."

"You wanted to practice your powers where no one will notice," Damian suggested as they entered their apartment. Damian grabbed his Robin suit before slipping it on quickly. Danny sighed before closing his eyes and letting Phantom to the surface.

"Don't you dare," Phantom threatened glaring at Robin.

"You didn't say it though," Robin whined with a slight smile. Phantom sighed before crossing his arms. Robin took a closer look at him. He stood much taller than when he was human, and Robin wondered if Danny had a bit of a personality disorder with his forms.

"Yeah, it kinda helps focus the power sometimes," Phantom defended himself. "Now where are we going?" Robin smiled as he pulled out a small computer.

"Looks like the docks," Robin informed as Phantom floated off the ground.

"I could fly us there," Phantom offered with a grin holding out his hand. Robin smiled taking it as Phantom held on tightly. "Most people feel weird when I do this."

"What exactly are you…" Robin trailed off when Phantom turned them both intangible and flew through the ceiling. "Never mind, I understand now."

"Sorry, I did warn you," Phantom smiled as he shot across the sky quickly hoping no one noticed on their way to work. "So where exactly at the docks?"

"South side," Robin informed looking at his computer. Phantom was a lot colder to the touch than last night, and Robin had a lot more questions about it, but decided that those could wait until later. "There, Batman should be waiting across the street."

Phantom landed silently on the roof where Robin told him. They looked around the corner to where Batman was watching the warehouse quietly.

"I'll just be invisible," Phantom suggested vanishing from sight, but Robin knew he was probably just going to follow him like a ghost.

"I thought you weren't going to let me back in the field," Robin said as he walked up and looked over at the warehouse too.

"I figure you brought your friend," Batman informed making Robin tense.

"I don't know…" Robin stopped when he felt Phantom shift the air slightly by him. "How'd you even know?"

"You gave me his first name; it was pretty difficult actually. I'm pretty impressed," Batman said looking at Robin. "It didn't take too much hacking to figure it out though."

"You looked into them, didn't you?" Phantom asked appearing beside Robin making him growl at Batman.

"I recognized the name Fenton," Batman informed. "Using your real name was a pretty good way of getting others from looking too closely. There wasn't anything fishy about it unless you knew that something was up."

"What do you plan on doing now?" Phantom asked wondering if this wasn't a set up.

"Freeze is in that building over there. He has been stealing equipment to change climate weather here in Gotham," Batman informed. "If the information on you is…"

"No, you're not sending him in," Robin growled out grabbing Phantom's arm and pulling him behind him.

"You've been training him in combat," Batman stated looking at him. "I believe you know what he's capable of."

"Not all of my powers I've told him," Phantom said looking down and letting the cold slowly filter though him. "I know what you're getting at."

"Danny…Phantom?" Robin corrected himself. Phantom smiled at him before raising his hand and creating an ice crystal.

"I told you that some ghost held special powers such as fire, lightning, and ice. Kinda radiates from their cores. Mine is ice," Phantom informed as he handed it to Robin. "Sorry I didn't tell you, but they were the one thing I tried to keep as quiet as possible there."

"Freeze's powers won't affect you at all. That temperature wouldn't slow you down at all," Robin said looking at Phantom. "You're not going in alone."

"I wasn't going to let him," Batman said. "We're his backup."

"You realize if they start looking here, we're going to have a problem," Phantom informed shaking slightly. Him being backup was one thing. He wouldn't necessarily have to fight, but actually being on the front lines again was entirely different.

"Damian already decided to protect you. Nothing's going to happen," Batman promised looking into toxic green eyes. He could see the power that was held within the kid. The raw type of power that people could only hope for. Phantom turned to Robin before holding out his hand again.

"Then we should go," Phantom sighed as he vanished with Robin while Batman shot a rope to the warehouse and jumped over.

* * *

"You should have just left," Robin whispered as he felt the cold bite into him. He hated working in the cold like this. Phantom seemed completely fine though.

"It's fine. We couldn't keep my secret for long," Phantom whispered back. Robin crossed his arms in both anger and cold. "You said that Freeze can only survive in zero degrees right?"

"Yeah, any warmer than 32 and he loses consciousness," Robin told him wondering where Phantom was going with this.

"How much colder can he handle?" Phantom asked looking at Robin. "Ghost cold is a lot different from this world's."

"Does it come with that creepy feeling that sometimes happens around you?" Robin asked glaring at his friend.

"Yep," Phantom grinned before the door blasted in causing more cold air to sweep by them. Phantom quickly brought up a green shield to protect them both from falling ice.

"I know you're there, Batman. I do believe that the last time we played this game I nearly won," Freeze taunted as he aimed again only to narrow his eyes at the green shield. "Did you call in help? Couldn't handle little old me by yourself anymore?"

"I need you to stay out of here," Phantom whispered looking at Robin. "This type of cold isn't good for you."

"I'm not leaving you here to fight him by yourself," Robin growled. Phantom only smiled.

"Oh, I'm not," a second Phantom appeared behind Robin making the teen jerk and face the other one. "I know. I probably should have said something about all my powers, but honestly did not think this one would work at all anyway."

"You're gonna kill me," Robin muttered under his breath as he took off back the direction they came from.

"It's not so bad," Phantom called back with a light laugh. His double smiled before vanishing too.

He didn't want Robin to worry more than he did, but Phantom couldn't fight with the double.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FF is so much better about reviews...not gonna lie...posted this here first, and have more people on FF than here reviewing...only reason I'm updating this is because it's behind and I would like to keep the stories in line somewhat so I'm not confused about what goes where....So leave a comment and let me know what you guys like about this story the most so far....or say it dumb...either way, this isn't going to be updated any faster than over there


	3. Of Broken Promises

Incision

Chapter Two

_Of Broken Promises_

_If I play a villain, I try to find his lightness and his good sides. And if I play a hero or a good guy, I'll try to find his darkness or his flaws. Because I don't believe in good and evil, I believe in grays._

_Joel Kinnaman_

* * *

Phantom glared at the man standing before him. He could feel the cold coming from the man. Much like the people in the Far Frozen, except without the warm welcoming feeling that came with them. Phantom did not like this anymore than Robin did, but he didn't really have a choice now. He looked up at Freeze when he dropped his shield and let his powers override his fear.

"You don't look like any of Batman's sidekicks," Freeze said. "Or any of his friends."

"I'm new to this whole thing really," Phantom smiled leaning against the wall trying to calm his slightly racing heart. He needed to get use to using his powers again. Get use to all of it again.

To the fear again.

"How do you like the cold?" Freeze asked raising his hand to the ghost. Phantom only smiled.

"I love it," he laughed as he shot up and formed an icy trail around him. "I mean, it's in my very core."

"We're kindred spirits then," Freeze said as he fired at the kid.

"Not even close, you'd have to be dead," Phantom taunted as he avoid the blasts.

"Who says I'm not?" Freeze asked aiming at Phantom. "After all the cold is all I can survive in."

"'Cause I am dead, and let me tell you, it's not as fun as you'd think," Phantom vanished into thin air. Freeze laughed.

"Vanishing isn't going to help you," Freeze laughed as he pulled out his thermal scan.

"That would only work if the room was warmer," Phantom taunted letting his voice echo around the room. "Much warmer." Freeze looked around, but couldn't find anything to show that who he was up against was even there until he felt someone hit him hard making him lose his scanner. He looked up and watched as Phantom grinned at him from under his hood. Bright green eyes stared at him.

"What are you?" Freeze asked feeling cold for the first time in a long time.

"A Phantom," Phantom answered before pulling energy into his hand and shooting it. Freeze grunted as the blast hit him and bounced him into the wall. Freeze looked up at him before closing his eyes and losing consciousness.

"That was pretty good, and quick," Batman said as he entered the room looking down at a screen. Phantom glared at him. Batman was watching him and how he worked. Of course he was.

"I figured it was a test of some kind," Phantom muttered crossing his arms. It felt good to use his powers again, and for somewhat of a challenge. Humans were easy.

"Great, now that's taken care of," Robin growled looking up at his father in anger. "Can we leave? It's morning, and to be honest, we weren't planning on helping you."

"What did you plan to do today?" Batman asked looking at the two of them. Phantom looked away before glaring back at Batman.

"I wanted to work on my powers, but I'm going to without you. I don't trust you, and you already know more than I want you to," Phantom growled clenching his fist tightly. "You couldn't just trust your son to make the right choices, so you made them for him."

"That's not…" Batman stopped himself looking over at the teen who held his hand up where green energy danced along his fingers.

"Yes, it is. You just don't want to see it," Phantom whispered looking back at Robin who seemed torn between the two of them.

"Father, I think it would be best if Phantom and I stayed away for a little while," Robin said keeping his own temper down. It had been hard learning that, but Phantom was a pretty good teacher about how to control anger and direct it into something much less violent.

Or direct it into fighting.

"Alright, but if you plan on working together, at least ensure you each have a com," Batman told them both before heading out. "The police will be here shortly, make sure he's secure and get out." Phantom and Robin both nodded before Batman disappeared.

"He's never that easy," Robin whispered looking at Phantom. "What do…?"

"I'm pretty sure he knows just about everything if he got into their database," Phantom sighed as they headed out after cuffing Freeze to a bar. "Some of which I didn't even tell you."

"Some of which you didn't have to," Robin said as he grabbed Phantom's hand. "It was written in yours scars."

"They didn't destroy as much as I thought that they would have," Phantom smiled slightly hoping to lighten the mood a little. It was getting into the early afternoon. "We do have most of the day left."

"We could go to the manor then to work your powers if you still wanted to since Bruce knows," Robin suggested pulling Phantom to him. He hadn't wanted to do that, but it turns out that he didn't have much choice anymore. He didn't have any ideas for short notice areas. Not without a lot of conflict and fighting to get to them.

"Alright, how are we getting there?" Phantom asked as Robin grinned lightly before hitting a button on his cuff. A motorcycle zoomed out from an ally making Phantom jump slightly before glaring at him.

"We could ride there," Robin said as he got on and handed Phantom a helmet.

"Fine, but if we die, I'm blaming you," Phantom joked before slipping behind him. "I've never ridden a motorcycle before, just a heads up."

"You can fly, I'm sure this will be easy," Robin laughed before taking off making Phantom hold on to him tighter.

* * *

_"Why?" Danny whispered feeling his limbs go numb. "Please make it stop."_

_"You're not human, scum," a man in white hissed._

* * *

Danny shook his head as Damian pulled his sword and a bo-staff. Damian could really go all out if he wanted to, and Danny was glad that Damian at least showed him some moves before deciding that this was a good idea.

"You're getting better at evading, but you rely a lot on your powers when you do," Damian started as he led the way out into the back yard. Danny looked out over the clearing this was going to either be really fun or really painful. He wasn't sure which one was going to be more fun.

"Yea, uh, I just wanted to run though my powers to see if they still worked," Danny said as Damian put down the two weapons.

"We are going to do that first, but I wanted to show you a few more things. We have much more room now than we did in the apartment," Damian grinned as he crossed his arms. "Now, what kind of run down do you want to do?"

"Well, we know my ice powers still work, or at least in colder temperatures," Danny mumbled as he raised his hand and let a blue glow form around it. A small ice crystal appeared in his palm. "Basics with invisibility and intangibility work, so all I really need to do is release some excess energy and see what happens." Danny changed into Phantom in a bright light before focusing on his core and letting out energy.

"Great, you made a nice day really cold," Damian muttered glaring at his boyfriend. Phantom opened his eyes with a grin before gathering green energy into his hand and shooting it into the sky causing a giant light show. He switched back into human form. "So?"

"It's all responding like normal," Danny shrugged. "I don't think too much damage was done, or maybe it just took it this long to really heal completely. Probably wouldn't have been able to do as much without your help. You really saved me."

"Well, awesome, so now we can…" Damian started only to be cut off by both Dick and Alfred running out to them.

"What the hell was that?" Dick asked completely freaked out. Danny looked over to Damian before pointing at him.

"He did it," Danny said as Damian whacked his arm. Danny laughed in response before looking at the two adults that were still out of breath. Dick recovered much faster.

"What are you two doing out here?" he asked glaring at the weapons Damian had put down on the ground.

"Training, what does it look like?" Damian sneered before grabbing his sword. Danny tensed as he watched. Damian never played by many rules when they practiced and he liked the element of surprise way too much for Danny's comfort.

"You're going to train him now?" Dick sighed as he ran his hand through his hair.

"This isn't the first lesson, and he's actually not that bad," Damian defended glaring at his stepbrother. "You can go now."

"Oh no, I'm watching this," Dick said as he sat down on the grass. "Let's see what your boyfriend can do." Damian glared at him before turning around and facing Danny. Dick grinned when Danny also sent him a glare.

"Alright, so we've done close combat, but not weapons," Damian said as he showed Danny his sword.

"That's because I had to set the rule in the apartment for no practicing weapons when you put a hole in the ceiling," Danny crossed his arms watching Damian carefully. He was not going to be sidetracked and whacked by Damian again. Damian did not hold back in training.

"Okay, that wasn't all my fault," Damian pointed out as he watched Danny. He liked catching his boyfriend off guard, but Danny was a quick learner and had an even faster reaction time. It was always a challenge.

"Well, then let's see his reflexes," Dick said wondering why Damian wasn't taking the openings. He grabbed the bo-staff that was still on the ground and tossed it to Danny quickly making the teen back away. The bo-staff stuck in the ground. Danny blinked at it before diving to his left away from Damian's sword.

"You're paying attention," Damian grinned liking the challenge Danny often posed. "You're getting much better."

"Thanks," Danny laughed. This type of training had been a lot different than back in Amity when he really had no idea what or where to even begin. Damian was a great teacher if a bit competitive.

"I wasn't expecting that honestly," Dick said as he stood up. Danny had fast reflexes otherwise Damian would have hit him, and Dick was a little concerned at how often they had been training together. "What else you got?"

Danny glared at him before slipping backwards as Damian came at him. Damian watched Danny's movements carefully. Danny was fluid and moved around easily, even without his powers. It made him hard to hit, but he had difficulty in offensive moves. Danny sidestepped and flipped around and kicked out at Damian hoping to knock him off balance, but Damian only dodged and flipped off to the side.

"Still a little off in offense," Damian commented watching Danny carefully. Danny could look off balance, but he worked without the same effects of gravity. He played in a different field where he could literally be weightless. Unlike the other heroes who could fly, Danny did not have the force of gravity to fight with. He simply existed in that spot at the time. Sometimes he would freak Damian out when he was asleep and floating.

"Dodging was necessary," Danny smiled as he jumped forward before ducking under Damian's sword and coming up behind him. Damian twisted around only for Danny to kiss him on the cheek and grab his sword pulling it away.

"That's cheating," Damian said as he lightly pushed Danny away. "You're not allowed to kiss the enemy."

"Just you," Danny laughed as he twisted the blade around in his hand. Dick looked up at Alfred who was watching the boys closely with a mix of awe and horror. Of course Damian would find someone who was willing to play dirty with him.

"I want to try," Dick said getting up. He wanted to see if Damian was taking it easy on Danny or not. It seemed like he might have been, and that he didn't want to hurt Danny. There were too many openings that Damian didn't take.

"Now that could be fun," Danny grinned behind Damian's ear. "What rules should be in place?"

"Ground and visibility," Damian said as Dick pulled out the bo-staff. "Try not to get hurt. He's good, and fluid."

"Me too," Danny said as he looked at Dick flipping the bo-staff around. "Besides, you forgot one. He won't be able to hit me." Damian sighed as he realized how much Danny was going to annoy Dick. He hated that his two lives came together, but Danny fit in so well everywhere he went. And sometimes, Damian hated feeling like he was an outcast. This was the first time he felt similar to that with Danny by him.

"Don't get hurt," Damian whispered as Dick and Danny circled each other looking for openings. Damian already knew where Dick was heading, but without knowing ahead of time how Danny worked, Dick was going to end up on the ground.

Dick headed straight ahead where Danny's middle seemed to be exposed until Danny's hand came down on the bo-staff forcing it downward while Danny went up and over Dick who could only watch as the teen vaulted over him and did two back flips before landing on his feet with a smirk on his face.

"Did you really think that was going to work?" Danny taunted. Dick narrowed his eyes before running towards Danny who ducked down and slid over almost as if he was floating over the ground instead of standing on it. Dick twisted around quickly and aimed the bo-staff at Danny's head. Danny flipped backward and kicked the bo-staff out of Dick's hand before twisting around again in the same move to kick out Dick's feet.

Dick was able to jump out of the way before flipping around to punch at Danny's side; only Danny brought his arm up and around and redirected that movement to the side.

"You're good," Dick smiled surprised. Danny clearly had a natural talent, and he wondered where he picked up the movements. He's never really seen that type of fighting style before.

"I do my best," Danny laughed blocking a punch to his face again. He twisted lightly on his feet before turning around in a roundhouse kick to Dick who wasn't prepared for such a twist and got knocked down. "And sometimes it's just enough."

"You lost, Grayson," Damian laughed pointing at Dick. He was always annoyed since Dick seemed like he was one step ahead of him all the time. But Danny's fighting style relied a lot of redirection and near nonexistent movements. He was part ghost after all.

"How did you do that?" Dick asked. Normally he could watch for reflexes when someone goes for a kick like that, but Danny never showed any motion for it and was able to twist seemingly to define gravity.

"Eh, practice," Danny said with a shrug. He wasn't going to tell Dick that he learned from fighting in the air most of the time. He didn't want him to know that much at the moment. "You pick up a few things."

"Where?" Dick asked curious. Danny seemed willing to talk to him to a point and it made him wondered what changed between last night and this afternoon. After Batman got a tip on Freeze, he had been on his own at the manor with Alfred till the green light show.

"Places," Danny answered turning to Damian after and grinning. "What else ya got?"

* * *

**Amity Park**

Masters paced his study. It had been nearly two years since the capture of Phantom, but the hybrid seemed to have disappeared after escaping from the Guys in White a year and a half ago. Masters grumbled under his breath when an email popped up on his computer.

Someone had hacked into Phantom's Guys in White files.

That meant that someone was looking into Phantom and could lead him to the hybrid's whereabouts. Masters grinned as he looked though the file sent to him. It was nearly impossible to see who exactly did it, but there was a location.

Metropolis.

Phantom hiding with the protection of Superman would make sense. Danny wouldn't want the responsibility anymore, and he could hide without too much suspicious after most of the people in Amity left.

"Soon, Little Badger, you will be broken, and I will be the only one who can pick up the pieces."

* * *

Bruce watched the training that Damian was putting Danny though. It wasn't too difficult, but Bruce did notice that Damian was trying to get Danny to not rely on his powers. It seemed fairly difficult for the hybrid not too. His powers are second nature to him, and not using them would be like asking someone not to use their hands.

Danny moved like gravity wasn't affecting him like it did to everyone else. It was something he probably didn't even think about, and Bruce wondered how Damian planned on helping with that.

Alfred and Dick were both right about how different Damian was from a year ago. He thought that his son was just growing up, but it was probably more to do with Danny than anything else. Just meeting the teen and looking though what he could of his life, Bruce was able to figure out that Danny was someone willing to give second chances and who would rather make peace than fight.

Damian was the opposite of all of that, but he never seemed to take it out on Danny. Bruce wondered if and how they fought as a couple. He knew Damian had some anger problems, had them since he started living with Bruce, but Danny was a laid back person. He wasn't confrontational; that was shown when he was against Freeze. He simply stalled time, distracted him, and then disarmed him quickly. No real big fight or anything like Bruce had been expecting.

Danny is going to make an excellent addition to the Justice League someday, and that was something Bruce was sure of.

* * *

"Danny, are you a meta-human?" Dick asked as they headed back to the house. Damian had taken the weapons back leaving the two alone for the first time, and Dick wanted to know more about Danny and who he was.

"Nope," Danny answered. It was technically the truth. He wasn't protected by those laws, but he was targeted by ghost laws. It made things extremely complicated, but Danny knew that he wasn't a Meta. That much was clear when he was experimented on.

"Are you sure you don't have powers?" Dick pressed. He knew that there had to be more to it. There was still no explanation for that light show. Danny moved gracefully, but he seemed like he was trying not to.

"Having powers and being a meta-human are two different things," Danny said looking at Dick. "Being a meta-human protects you from the law. I am not protected."

"What do you mean?" Dick asked as they walked into the kitchen of the manor. Danny looked at him sadly.

"I'm not a meta-human. I'm not even considered a sentient being. Due to certain laws, the government can do whatever they see fit with me…and they have," Danny said. He wanted to crawl into a hole, but he knew that could never happen. He couldn't just disappear. There were too many things left unattended. Phantom had a job after all, and no matter what happens Phantom would always be needed.

"They used you as an experiment," Dick whispered realizing why Damian was protective and why Danny asked him not to go looking. "You're hiding from them."

"I have to. My very existence is against the law. I can't do anything but run for now," Danny sighed as he looked up at the ceiling. "Maybe someday it'll get better or easier, but for now, I just got to keep running."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here ya all go, have fun and tell me what y'all like about this story.


	4. Falling Debris

Incision

Chapter Three

_Falling Debris_

_Take chances, make mistakes. That's how you grow. Pain nourishes your courage. You have to fail in order to practice being brave._

_Mary Tyler Moore_

* * *

**Metropolis**

"Anything?" Masters asked as Skulker paced the room.

"No, my scanners should be able to pick up the ghost boy whether or not he's human or ghost," Skulker growled angrily. "He's not here. Are you sure that this is where he is?"

"Yes, this is where the signal came from that was looking into his files in the Guys in White," Master said glaring at the useless ghost. This was supposed to be easy, but that child was being increasingly difficult. "I wasn't able to track exactly where but he should at least have been in this city. He wouldn't have gone far."

"I'll keep looking," Skulker said glaring at Masters before disappearing. He was not failing this hunt.

* * *

Clark watched as the limo pulled up. Bruce told him about someone who had tried to trace a search he did and he wanted Clark to check it out. Bruce knew that the company was called DALV, but couldn't find who was running it.

Clark wondered what exactly Bruce was after, but didn't ask. He knew that his friend would tell him eventually. He pulled his camera up and watched as a grey haired man stepped out of the vehicle and straightened out his suit. Clark snapped a few photos before taking off. He didn't need to tip the man off that he was being followed.

Clark stepped around the corner and looked through the photos. The man looked familiar, but he couldn't place him. Bruce would have to run a search.

However, he wondered why someone like this would have pinged on Bruce's radar. He seemed kinda run of the mill rich guy. Clark tried to sometimes keep up with Bruce's logic in things, but there were times where Clark was amazed at his friend.

He pulled his phone out before sending the photos to Bruce. He didn't realize that an invisible being had flew by or that anyone had even gone by him at all.

All he felt was an intense wave of unease before it passed just as quickly as it came.

* * *

Danny woke up to the feel of someone behind him holding on to him tightly. He turned slightly to see Damian curled around him and wondered if he had a nightmare that he didn't remember. Or if Damian had one.

Danny hated when Damian had nightmares since he was quiet about them. He never really told Danny much about them, but there were times when Danny knew he had them. They often appeared when his boyfriend was stressed over something.

Danny twisted the best he could to face Damian and really look at him to see if he was troubled, but all he found was a calm face with a resting heart. Clearly Damian just felt like being cuddly. It wasn't too out of the ordinary, and Danny was glad. It probably meant they could have somewhat of a normal day.

Although he didn't really remember getting home, Danny looked around the room and realized that they were still at the manor and that they were more than likely in Damian's room. He turned to the clock on the bedside table. It was nearly 7 in the morning.

They never really could sleep late. Danny turned back to Damian before kissing his cheek and tried to slip out of Damian's hold. Damian only held on tighter and refused to let him go. Danny sighed wondering if he should even try or just stay in the warmth of the bed.

"Nope," Damian grumbled when Danny shifted his arm out from under him. Damian tightened his hold on Danny's arm before Danny could finish pulling it away.

"Dude, it's going numb. I'm not going anywhere, just give me my arm back," Danny said as he laid on his back. Damian pulled him closer before laying on his chest. "Of course. You're impossible."

"Go to sleep," Damian grumbled again as he shifted his head on Danny's chest.

"Clearly someone doesn't want to be awake this morning. This is new," Danny laughed. Normally he was the one who was hard to get up, but it looked like today Damian was going to be the normal teenager who didn't want to get out of bed before noon.

"Shut up," Damian said lowly before pinching Danny's thigh. Danny yelped.

"Hey now. Don't be mean," Danny warned with a grin. "You won't like what I do in return."

"Fine," Damian sighed dramatically before sitting up just enough to move his other arm into Danny's face. "Now I won't be mean." Danny licked his arm making his boyfriend wince. "Okay, that was gross."

"You started it," Danny said laughing and leaning back. Damian leaned up and kissed Danny while crawling over him. He pinned Danny to the bed with Danny bringing his hands up to Damian's sides and gently tracing the muscles there.

"And you'll finish it," Damian smiled as he pulled away. Danny just laughed. It was how most of their fights ended. They never got to the point of screaming since one of them was usually able to remain reasonable. It's worked like that, and Damian knew that Danny was one of the only people he knew who wouldn't hurt him.

Damian had always thought that others were a burden and wouldn't be able to see things his way, but Danny did to some degree. Danny could see it and then even help Damian see the world in a different light. While he still believed that most people would be unhelpful to his cause, Damian knew that Danny was not one of those people. Danny could care for himself in a fight and didn't need to rely on others.

"So, we've probably got a little bit of time before the others realize that we've not left," Damian said with a smile. Danny pulled him closer and raised his hips. "I knew there was reason I liked you."

"We thinking the same thing then?" Danny asked with a breathless laugh as Damian started kissing his neck. Damian gave a nod as he licked and kissed his way across Danny's throat. Danny felt him start sucking on a spot and knew that there was going to be a mark there later when a knock on the door sounded.

"Damian, Bruce wants to…" Dick trailed off when he looked up from the papers he had and seen the two on the bed. "I'm scarred for life." Damian growled before grabbing a batarang from the side table and throwing it at his stepbrother.

"Would you get the hell out and leave me alone for once!" Damian shouted when it lodged into the doorframe. Every damn time so far since this mess with them finding Danny and they keep on stopping him.

"I'm sorry!" Dick apologized as he ran out of the room. Damian glared at the door for a little while Danny was laughing under him.

"That was great," Danny said as he looked up at Damian. "You going to continue or stop?"

"Do you want to continue?" Damian asked looking at Danny. Sometimes Danny didn't like doing this type of thing. He was self conscious, especially when it came to the scars on his chest. Damian didn't mind them, and sometimes they made him want to find the people responsible and tear their throats out, but Danny didn't want that. He simply wanted Damian to stay by him.

And that had more respect than anything. If anyone had a reason to kill someone, it would be Danny for all the pain that he was put through by the people who should have been protecting him.

"Sorta," Danny said as he shifted under Damian. Now that the spell was broken he felt shame as he remembered what his body looked like. He was getting better about not feeling that way. Damian was good about ensuring that he had nothing to be ashamed about, but sometimes he couldn't stop it. He knew Damian had scars too from being Robin, and that they shared a similar past as heroes but Danny had a difference.

He was vivisected.

"Tell me when to stop," Damian whispered as he started to run his hands under Danny's shirt. He could feel the muscles there move and constrict as his hands wondered, and the moment he traced the middle of the scar carved in Danny's chest, Danny jolted up slightly.

"Stop," Danny warned feeling his heart beat faster. He wanted this and he didn't want it at the same time. He hated that feeling. Damian immediately stopped moving but never took his hands away. Danny shuddered in a breath before looking up at Damian.

"I can back off, but I'm not going to move till you give me the okay," Damian said as he balanced himself.

"I'm alright, just go slower," Danny said softly after a few minutes as he reached up to Damian's face and gently traced his cheekbones. Danny felt Damian's hands continue to travel along his scar. Fear crawled up his spine before he felt Damian's lips on his.

"You're alright," Damian gently whispered against him. "I'm right here."

"Now if only my brain would get with it," Danny muttered as he turned his head when Damian started kissing along his neck. He could feel the panic start to die down when Damian's hands left from under his shirt, but it started back when Damian made to take it off.

"You'll get there," Damian said as he pulled away lightly and pulled off Danny's shirt. The room temperature dropped lightly making Damian gently press against Danny's chest to ground him. "Hey, you good?"

"Yeah," Danny breathed out as he started pulling at Damian's shirt too. "Although I think undressing you will help." Damian laughed as he took off his own shirt and pants. Danny laid back as Damian climbed back over him and started kissing him again.

Danny wrapped his arms around Damian and pulled him right against his chest. Damian could feel the scars on Danny's chest and only pressed closer as he started running his hands down Danny's pants.

* * *

Dick sighed as he ate his breakfast. He missed Kory, but couldn't do anything about it. He was glad that Damian found someone. He never thought it was possible. Damian actually found someone that could put up with him, but Dick had a feeling that there was a more to Danny than meets the eye.

Even though Danny admitted that he had powers.

"When are you heading back?" Alfred asked as he entered the room.

"Tomorrow," Dick answered as he looked up at the butler. "You watched Danny yesterday. Did he move oddly to you?"

"His style was a lot different from yours, but he clearly has his own way. It's been influenced by Damian's a little, but he has one of his very own," Alfred said as he poured some tea. "What's been bothering you?"

"Danny has powers, but he never really explained a lot to me. Just that he wasn't considered human," Dick said as he glared out the window. "But, even aliens like Superman are protected. Why isn't he?"

"Did you ask?" Alfred asked as he looked at Dick. "He clearly knows the answer."

"He didn't really give an answer," Dick said as he looked at Alfred. "Damian's clearly protecting him."

"Then maybe we should help," Alfred suggested. "Master Damian knows what he's doing. He's clearly known Danny for a long time. Now we know him as well. Maybe not as well."

"So, you're saying we should blindly trust Damian?" Dick said looking at Alfred like he lost his mind.

"No," Bruce said as he entered having heard the last bit of their discussion. "I know what Danny is. Danny needs protecting because there is no one else willing to step up."

"Where'd you come from? You know what, never mind I should be used to that by now," Dick muttered under his breath. "What is he?"

"A ghost," Bruce answered as he took one of the mugs of tea. Both Alfred and Dick looked at him like he lost his mind. "Or half ghost if what he says is true."

"Half ghost? I don't even believe full ghosts are real," Dick said raising his hands. "I mean come on. We've faced a lot of weird things, but ghosts?"

"Not the type of ghosts you're thinking of. Danny's powerful. Very powerful even in ghosts standards apparently. Damian knows a lot more about him than anyone else, and if we can prevent Danny from becoming someone we may one day face, all the better," Bruce said. "You trained with him yesterday, and he was a challenge. Now if he had used his powers to the fullest? Do you think you could have stopped him by yourself?"

"No," Dick answered looking away. "Does that mean he's dead?"

"That's the way the government sees him," Bruce said as he looked out the door to the hallway where Damian and Danny were. "But I don't think he is. I think he's more alive than anyone I've ever met. I think that's why Damian is drawn to him so strongly."

* * *

Danny laughed as he put his pants on. Damian only glared at him. Danny smiled as he took his towel back from his boyfriend and twisted it.

"You hit me with it again, and I'll kick your ass," Damian threatened as Danny whipped it at him barely missing him.

"We both know you wouldn't," Danny said as he undone the twist and started drying his hair. Damian turned to him and quickly admired the fact that Danny was shirtless and bent over. There were so many things he could do, but just didn't have time for. "Hey, remember when I told about Vlad?"

"Plasmius? The guy you think was responsible for everything that happened?" Damian said with a slight frown. Danny never brought up his past willing without a good reason. Not like this.

"Yeah, I told you he had powers like I do," Danny said feeling a bit hollow. "That he was also part human."

"Yeah, but you never told me his human name. You were afraid I would try to hunt him down," Damian said crossing his arms. Danny was right in that Damian would have hunted him down and probably would have crossed that line. "Why are you bringing this up now?"

"I have a feeling he's coming. If Bruce really did look into me, then he may have tipped him off," Danny said as he put his shirt on and pulling it down. "I mean, if he's coming, then I would like for you to be ready cause I really don't know how much help I'll be if I…"

"You'll be fine. You've gotten a lot better," Damian said walking up to Danny and putting his hand on Danny's shoulder. "But if you're concerned."

"His real name is Vlad Masters," Danny whispered wrapping his arms around himself. He didn't want to drag Damian into his mess, and he had hoped to just stay under the radar. Bruce had taken that away when he sent him to take care of Freeze. However, Danny knew that Phantom still had work to do. That the ghosts needed him just as much as the humans did. "He's been in charge of the division in Amity Park since he's the mayor, and I'm not sure how much he knows."

"You think he might have known about everything," Damian guessed. Sometimes Danny was hard to follow in his thought process and sometimes he was easy. Damian learned that Danny didn't always think like a human and that sometimes things that should make sense with him didn't.

"Something like that," Danny smiled at him. "He's been after me since I was fourteen and found out about my powers."

"That's a little creepy," Damian said as they headed out of the bedroom and down the hallway. "Although, I think I might know him."

"He is a billionaire," Danny whispered as Damian gently held his hand. "I wouldn't be surprised if you've never met him either. He's kept himself pretty low since he does have powers and hasn't really used them responsibly."

"That would make sense. Bruce tends to stay towards the ones who at least want to look like they care about others," Damian said as they entered the bedroom together. "We can stop him together."

"I didn't want to drag you into my mess," Danny said as he closed his eyes. His friends were dragged into it, and now they were no help. They were gone.

"Well, I'm already in the hero business in case you didn't notice," Damian said with a smile. "Besides, you knew I would get myself involved if I thought you were going to be in danger."

"Yeah, I guess. I'm just worried," Danny whispered as Damian wrapped his arms around him. "Plasmius doesn't really have a limit, and I'm afraid how far he'll go to get to me."

"Well, he'll have to get though the League for one, and that's not going to be an easy feat. You shouldn't worry too much. We've done a lot," Damian said as he looked at Danny. "I'll be here for you no matter what."

"Thanks, that means a lot," Danny smiled as he kissed his boyfriend.

* * *

Bruce looked at the pictures Clark had sent with a glare. This wasn't good if Vlad Masters had managed to track that search to Metropolis. He did not want to put Danny at risk, but Vlad was good. If he kept up the search he would no doubt figure out where Danny is and quite possibly who Batman is.

"Do you believe that Danny can be trusted?" Alfred asked knowing that was one of the things that had been bothering Bruce.

"Danny, I think, can be, but this guy? No. And I bet you he knows about Danny. Which means we have to be extra careful," Bruce said with a sigh. He knew Danny was a good kid. He was glad Damian found someone who could keep up with him, but there was a whole new world to the game now. Another to add to all the craziness.

"Ghosts, Sir?" Alfred said with a small smirk. "Do you truly believe that?"

"I've seen some pretty crazy things, but I believe that Danny's powers are proof enough that ghosts exist." Bruce was not letting that man anywhere near Danny if he could help it. He had known that Danny had powers, and he had wanted to see them in action.

But what he seen with Freeze was someone who held himself back from the fight. Someone that was nearly the complete opposite from Damian.

"So, what are you going to do now, Sir?" Alfred asked knowing that Bruce needed to talk though his plan before anything got too out of control. He watched the training that Damian put the teen though and knew that he could hold himself with or without powers to aide him.

"I don't know," Bruce sighed as he pulled up the files he had stolen from Axoin Labs. There were many things going on there that were questionable at best, and highly illegal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm writing a sequel to this now....this is finished technically, I'm just taking my time posting.   
> It's called Laceration. And I typed 14 pages in two days with it. I'm loving Danny/Damian very much. My fab pairing and I'm not letting it go anytime soon apparently. And no one else has one so...


	5. Damage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why did no one ask me about this entire chapter missing?!?!?!

Incision

Chapter Four

_ Damage _

_ If you have not been a villain at a certain point in time, you will never be a hero. And the day you are a hero, you may become a villain the next day. _

_ Carlos Ghosn _

* * *

 

Danny frowned as he pulled out his computer. Damian had to go do something as Robin over in Jump City for the next three days. Danny hated it when Damian had to leave, but there wasn’t much he could do. It’s been almost three weeks since Bruce had figured out who he was and had him fight Freeze. Word had gotten out in the criminal underworld that someone new was working with the Bat.

It wasn’t going to take long before Vlad put two and two together that Danny was in Gotham. That also meant that Bruce’s identity was at risk since most all of the ghosts knew who Danny was. It was a problem that Danny had no control over, but this was one of those times where Danny wished that Vlad had no idea who he was.

He wanted to protect Damian, and he knew it was going to be hard once Vlad found him. It was no longer a possibility that he could just remain under the radar. He would end up fighting the older half ghost again, and probably will be pretty soon too.

He was not looking forward to that at all. He wished Vlad could just let it go. His family had been torn apart and his friends killed. Then there were battles between humans and ghosts while he was having trouble keeping his head above water. Ghosts seen him as a hero too when it came to the humans who wanted to destroy the Ghost Zone. It had gotten worse.

It was a secret war that only those who fighting in it knew about it.

A knock on the door startled Danny out of his musings as he was finishing cleaning the living room. He walked over to it and wondered who it could possibly be.

“Hello?” Danny called though the door waiting for an answer. No one answered and Danny carefully stuck his head though it to see who it was. Nightwing was leaning against the door holding his side tightly. Danny gasped before pulling his head back and opening the door. 

“I could use some help,” Nightwing mumbled out as he tried to lean off the wall. Danny shot forward and grabbed his arm to prevent him from falling to the floor. “Sorry, I would have gone back to the cave, but you were closer.”

“It’s fine. Damian has done the same,” Danny said as he shut the door and sat Nightwing at the kitchen table. “Let me get the med kit.” Nightwing nodded as he held his side tighter when he felt light headed again.

“Yeah, I figured you would have some,” Nightwing coughed out a little as he watched Danny kneel down next to him. “I might need some help with something else after this.”

“Let’s get this taken care of first,” Danny said as he pulled out the suture kit and some towels. He carefully cleaned around Nightwing’s hand before gently pulling it back to see what damage had been done. It looked like someone had shoved a sword right through his side.

Danny cleaned it best he could before pulling a needle and thread out and began stitching the wound closed. He pulled some cold from his core to cool the wound and help it heal. It was a power he realized he had after Damian came back with a broken arm.

“You’re going to feel cold for a minute, but please don’t pull away,” Danny said as the cold washed though his hand.

“What are you…?” Nightwing stopped as he felt intense cold bite into him and he wasn’t sure if he should listen. He wanted to pull away, but he looked down and noticed that the wound had stopped bleeding and as it warmed back up, it didn’t hurt nearly as bad. Danny finished the stitches.

“There, now it should be able to heal on its own without a scar,” Danny smiled at Nightwing. “What?”

“Did you just heal part of it?” Nightwing asked as Danny taped gauze to the wound.

“Yeah, picked it up after one of Damian’s fights. It was odd since I knew I had faster healing, but I didn’t know until later that I could use some of it on others,” Danny said as he started putting the stuff away and cleaning up the mess. “I think it was a way my powers were trying to drain excess while I was unable to…well, yeah. Just theories.”

“What are you?” Nightwing asked hoping for an answer this time. No one would give him a straight answer and every time he tried asking Damian, the little twerp would just smirk and laugh at him. He still didn’t believe what Bruce said. He figured the man was messing with him. It wouldn’t be the first time.

“You haven’t figured it out?” Danny asked surprised. Bruce even figured it out, and Danny had a feeling that he told everyone already.

“No one will tell me,” Nightwing mumbled out as he pulled his suit back on. There was still a tear he needed to fix, but it could wait.

“I’m a ghost,” Danny said with a smile. “Well, half of one anyway.”

“That…That was not want I was expecting,” Nightwing said as he looked at Danny in confusion. There was no way that was true. He did not want to believe that the kid was dead. “Does that mean you’re dead?”

“That’s how the government sees me, but I don’t think so. I mean…you’re not thinking about the right ghosts at least. Ghosts as you know them, and actual ghosts are kinda different things. It’s pretty hard to explain actually,” Danny said as he turned back to Nightwing who was looking at him slightly concerned.

“That’s what you were talking about earlier with not being considered a sentient being,” Nightwing said understanding now why Danny had to be careful.

“It was hard, but when Damian found me and helped me, it wasn’t too hard to stay under the radar and only recently have I been able to use my powers to their fullest,” Danny explained as he raised his hand and let it start to glow green. 

“That’s good, because I think Damian is in trouble. No one had heard from him in two days, and when I went looking I was attacked,” Nightwing motioned to his side where he could see the bandage through the tear.

“By who?” Danny asked standing straight. He was not letting anyone hurt his boyfriend if he could help it. 

“The League of Assassins,” Nightwing answered as he felt the room temperature drop and an unsettling feeling creep up his spine. “They’re…”

“I know about them,” Danny growled. Damian had told him just about everything from his mother and grandfather to them trying to kill him after he sided with Bruce instead of them. “Do you know why?”

“No, I was trying to figure it out, but some of their soldiers attacked where I thought they were. Bruce might have more luck,” Nightwing said as he stood up. Danny followed him.

“I’m coming,” Danny informed crossing his arms. Nightwing stopped at the door and turned to him.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, plus you don’t…” Nightwing cut off when a white ring appeared around Danny’s waist and split apart. After they disappeared, Phantom was standing in Danny’s place looking angry his cloak whipped violently before settling down.

“I’m not letting anything happened to Damian,” Phantom’s voice echoed, and that feeling of fear crawled up Nightwing’s spine. It wasn’t as strong as it was when it first happened all those weeks ago when Danny was angry, but it was there. 

“Alright,” Nightwing put his hands up in surrender. He didn’t think he was going to stop Danny either way from coming. “What do you go by?”

“Phantom,” Phantom answered as they headed down the hallway and out the back where Nightwing’s bike was waiting. Phantom started floating off the ground making Nightwing a little nervous. No wonder Danny moved the way he did in training. His powers allowed him to fly.

“Alright, think you can keep up?” Nightwing asked as a wicked grin appeared on Phantom’s face.

“I can do you one better,” Phantom said before vanishing from sight. “Let’s go.” Nightwing got on and they were off.

* * *

 

“Have you found anything?” Dick asked as Bruce was running a search on the computer. Phantom was pacing behind them. Bruce was pissed that Dick had brought Phantom along, but there wasn’t anything he could do. Dick may not have made it to the cave to get patched up, and Phantom deserved to know about his missing boyfriend.

“No, wherever they’ve taken him, it’s not popping anything unusual in their known safe houses,” Bruce growled. He needed to find his son. A year ago he may have been afraid of Damian staying with them, but with Danny in the picture, Damian wasn’t going to just abandon him.

“What about the tracers you planted on us?” Dick asked knowing that Bruce had tagged all of them.

“He found it not too long ago. He took it off when he was meeting Danny, and I couldn’t replace it,” Bruce sighed upset. He had tried to use it once to track him, and Damian had chewed him out for it and then disappeared for two days.

He was pretty sure that Damian had been with Danny for the whole two days. Bruce now knew why that safe house was such a good idea, and he wondered why he didn’t press to know where they were. He wanted Damian to feel better about telling him things, but instead all Damian did was hide more and more.

“I might have something,” Phantom chimed in as he walked up to the computer. He started typing in some code before pulling up the internet connection. Suddenly his symbol popped up on the screen and started spinning as a username and password box opened up. “My friend set this system up online before…anyway, I told Damian about it, and he started messing with some of it.”

“He put in trackers,” Bruce guessed as Phantom logged in. A map icon appeared next to several different icons that were of ghosts.

“Sorta, he was interested in the technology that my parents developed before they went to prison,” Phantom explained as he clicked on the map. “He started taking it further when he realized I had access to it, and the ability to recreate a lot of it. We started working on making different things.”

“Weapons,” Bruce guessed glaring at the hybrid for a moment. 

“Yeah, but not the kind you’re thinking of. Ghost weapons don’t really harm humans. They may give a mild burn, but nothing that could kill them unless they were done wrong,” Phantom said as he started typing in a set of numbers. “Ghosts are a problem that not a lot of people can deal with. He thought that maybe the Justice League could use some just in case.”

“In case a bunch came though?” Dick said as he watched as a dot appear on the map that came up. Phantom seemed frozen in spot as he looked at where Damian was. “Where is that?”

“Amity Park,” Bruce whispered realizing that something was wrong. Phantom was slightly shaking, and Bruce knew that the teen may be close to a panic attack. Damian was probably one of the only people who truly knew what could be going on in Phantom’s head, but he wasn’t here.

“Isn’t that the…” Dick started, but then realized that the stories he heard about them were true. 

Phantom was the apparent hero there. The same Phantom was that was standing there in the cave staring at the computer in horror.

* * *

 

“You think you’re going to get away with this?” Robin growled pulling at his bonds. It’d been two days without contact, and he knew that Nightwing should be alerting Bruce by now, which hopefully one of them would get a hold of Danny since Danny was probably the only one who could track him at this point.

He wished he had put the other tracker back, but he didn’t trust Bruce enough yet to do so.

“We already have,” Ra’s Al Ghul said as he walked up to the computer inside FentonWorks. “With this technology, we could take the world back. We could finally rebuild it.” Robin struggled more.

He knew this wasn’t going to end well, but what he didn’t understand is why now. The Fentons have been in prison for nearly two years now. After their daughter and son’s friends were killed, they were arrested for their murder. That the parents hadn’t been nearly as careful in their profession as they should have been and that’s partly why Amity Park became almost a literal Ghost Town.

Some said the parents had finally gone crazy, but Robin knew it probably had to do with the fact that Danny was gone at the time. That the government had taken him and they let them.

“Right, you want to use the inventions of crazy people,” Robin sneered. He couldn’t let them know he knew more about that tech than anyone else besides Danny.

“They weren’t as crazy as the rest of the world believed. Ghosts are real, and extremely powerful. That kind of power needs taken care of,” Ra’s said as he looked at his grandson. “It can’t be let into this world anymore than it already has been. It could stop the balance we are trying to create here.”

“You won’t get away with this,” Robin growled. That balance was more important than whatever Ra’s was planning. The Ghost Zone and this world were tied together so tightly that if one world was destroyed, the other would follow.

“I highly doubt you or your father could stop me,” Ra’s said as he headed towards the closed portal that was in the basement. Robin knew enough to know that the only one who could open it was Danny. “Besides, we have a Fenton who is going to help us.”

Maddie Fenton was thrown to the floor of the lab. She looked like hell, and as she pulled herself up she winced.

“I’m not going to help you destroy an entire world,” she growled glaring at them. “That world might be full of horrible of beings, but its connection to ours is stable. You could end up destroying our world with it. You don’t know the ramifications.”

“Would that be too bad? You killed your children and their friends,” Ra’s said with a slight smile. “I think you should take the chance anyway. What more do you really have left?” Maddie looked down at the ground.

“That chance could end the world, and of all the mistakes I’ve made, I’m not going to do this,” Maddie whispered looking up at him as one of the soldiers raised a sword to her throat. Robin pulled more at his bonds when an explosion in the doorway got all their attention.

Batman and Nightwing jumped in fighting the soldiers as Robin felt a cold pretense behind him. 

“Danny?” Robin whispered watching around him carefully. Maddie was fighting the two that had been holding her, but she clearly was no match for them.

“What is she doing here?” Phantom growled as he cut Robin free. 

“He needed the portal open,” Robin answered as he landed on the ground. Maddie looked over to him as one of the soldiers shoved the blade though her side. Her eyes widen seeing Phantom standing next to him before she looked down and grabbed at her side hoping to stop the blood from flowing. “He wants to destroy the Ghost Zone.” Phantom glared at Ra’s. He was at the computer typing something in when suddenly all the weapons in the lab came to life and pointed at them.

“I would suggest you all…” Ra’s started only to stop when Phantom reached his hand through the wall and tore out some wires which made everything stop.

“There’s a reason I’m hard to beat,” Phantom growled lighting his hand with ecto energy and incriting the few wires in his hand to dust. “I know my way around ghost hunting equipment.” Maddie watched as the being she tried to kill two years ago started floating off the ground. According to Vlad, Phantom had vanished a year and a half ago from that lab. No one has seen him since. He took her son from her, and she was going to get her revenge.

“And who just might you be?” Ra’s sneered as Phantom started floating next to Robin who was glaring at the man.

“Phantom,” he growled out as his hands lit with energy. Nightwing raced over to Maddie who had fallen to her knees still holding the blade to her. Nightwing knocked the soldiers down with his bo-staff before helping her stop the bleeding. The only way to save her would be help from her son.

The same son who wanted nothing to do with his family anymore.

“Hang on, I’ve got you,” Nightwing whispered as he helped her lay on the ground.

“You have to stop Phantom. He’ll destroy everything,” she whispered feeling weaker. “Please, he’s a killer….” She lost conscious as Robin and Phantom teamed up against Ra’s while Batman finished the remaining three soldiers.

Phantom shot to side as he fired a ray at Ra’s sending him into the wall right next to the portal. Robin grabbed a nearby sword and slammed it into Ra’s head. Ra’s shook his head disoriented for a moment before throwing stars at Phantom who simply let them pass through him harmlessly. Robin flipped over back towards Phantom who grinned at Ra’s before creating ice on the floor and letting it freeze Ra’s feet to the ground.

Ra’s caught his balance fairly quickly and stabbed the ice with his own sword trying to break it. Robin ran up to him and cut down knocking the sword from his hands as Phantom rounded in a kick that knocked Ra’s down. They all heard a crack as Ra’s leg gave before the ice did.

Phantom and Robin watched carefully as Ra’s tried to stand back up. The ice prevented him from getting much farther up than just sitting on the ground.

“You’ll pay for that,” Ra’s growled out glaring at the ghost. “I’ll be sure to kill you slowly.”

“Already dead,” Phantom smiled as he lightly landed next to Robin. “I would love to see you try though.”

“It’s over, Grandfather,” Robin sneered as Batman walked up to them.

“Phantom, Maddie is hurt, she could use some help,” Batman said watching as the hybrid tensed and looked over to where his mother was laying on the ground with Nightwing pressing on the wound to her side.

He knew he should save her.

He didn’t want to. 


	6. Understood

Incision

Chapter Five

_Understood_

_Change is the end result of all true learning._

_Leo Buscaglia_

* * *

 

**Amity Park- Two Years Ago**

               Danny stood in front of her gravestone with three ice flowers he created. He laid them next to all the other flowers that people had brought over the past two weeks.

               “I’m so sorry,” he whispered as he gently traced over the name Jasmine on the stone. His own sister had gotten caught in the crossfire with the Guys in White, but they of course blamed it on Phantom. Four people died that day, but his sister was the only one that seemed to have made it impossible for him to go ghost without setting off every ghost detection device created by his parents. “I should have known.”

               Every Ghost Hunter in Amity was out for his blood, and none of it was even his fault.

               “Danny, sweetie? It’s time to go,” his mother called carrying the sadness that she felt. His father hadn’t spoken much since they got the call about their daughter.

               “I’ll be right there,” Danny yelled back looking at her grave with determination. He was going to end them if it was the last thing he ever did.

Those monsters were never to hurt anyone ever again.

* * *

 

               Sam paced in front of FentonWorks waiting for Danny to appear. They needed a plan, and Tucker was busy hacking into the Guys in White for more information about where their base of operation is. If they could find it, they might be able to cripple them enough to get the attention of outside help.

               “Hey, have you seen Danny?” Tucker asked as he raced up to her still in his suit from the funeral.

               “No, not yet,” Sam said with concern. She looked up and watched as the Guys In White patrol go by. They needed stopped before any more people got hurt. “We need Danny for this.”

               “Well, I might have a plan to crash their systems. It should stop them long enough for us to figure out a better plan,” Tucker suggested as he pulled up the virus he’d been working on. “All we have to do is get into their main system and plant it. And once that’s done, it’ll send a distress signal to the League and hopefully they’ll come again. All we need to do is ensure that Danny is ready to talk to them.”

               “Awesome,” Sam said with a small smile. They finally had a plan. “Does it say to talk to Danny specifically before anyone else?”

               “I have it asking them to talk to a Daniel Fenton, and that if they want the truth, they must remain discreet,” Tucker said as he finished typing on his PDA. “All we need it…”

               There was a crater where the two were standing in front of FentonWorks. Their bodies nothing more than burnt crisps.

               “Mads, I missed!”

* * *

 

**Amity Park-FentonWorks-Present**

               Phantom pressed against the wound on his mother’s side while Batman and Nightwing were looking for the first aid kit in the lab. Robin was next to Phantom carefully watching Maddie for any signs of waking up.

               “How can you find anything here?” Nightwing exclaimed getting frustrated with the disorganized mess.

               “Damian, upstairs to the left is my old room. Under the bed is my kit from when I would patch myself up from the fights,” Phantom explained as Robin ran up the stairs. Maddie groaned before opening her eyes and glaring at the ghost who was still holding on to her side.

               “I don’t…know what your plan…is,” Maddie mumbled out.

               “Stop talking,” Phantom ordered pressing harder making her take in a breath. “Either deal with it or die.”

               “I’d rather die,” she growled out. Batman kneeled next to her on the other side of the ghost.

               “I think you should be quiet and let him try to save your life,” Batman said sternly watching as her eyes widen.

               “You should stop him. He killed my son,” Maddie said trying to get them to attack the dangerous ghost. “He’ll kill you the moment you let your guard down.”

               “I highly doubt that,” Batman said as he pulled out some more towels and helped try to keep the wound as clean as possible.

               Robin raced back down the stairs with a kit that clearly had seen better days.

               “Nothing in this is what came in it originally,” Robin said as he kneeled down next to Phantom. Phantom turned to him with a small smile.

               “Where do you think I learned first aid?” Phantom asked as he opened the case and pulled out some gauze and started cleaning the wound with antiseptic. “She’s going to need to go to the hospital.”

               “An ambulance is on its way,” Nightwing said as he leaned forward. “I’ll go upstairs and wait for it.” Batman nodded as Phantom started wrapping it. The wound needed stitches, but Batman knew that Maddie wasn’t going to let Phantom do that. Phantom knew more about first aid in the field than anyone in the room.

               Batman may have known a lot about it, but he never had the need to practice the same way that Phantom did. Phantom knew how to field dress a wound and make it last. Just like he did to Nightwing. While some of his movements had been hindered, he was still able to fight.

               It was something that Batman wasn’t expecting, but wasn’t too surprised after reading about some of the fights in Amity.

               “One of these days, Phantom, you’ll pay for what you did to my family,” Maddie growled out.

               “I did nothing to your family. The reason your son hated you so much was because you let your close mindedness about ghosts override his and his friend’s safety,” Phantom said lowly. “I didn’t tear your family apart, you did all by yourself.” Phantom stood up and walked away from her. Robin following close behind knowing that she was fine for now. Batman was there. Phantom needed him more.

               “Are you okay?” Robin asked quietly. Phantom shook his head. Robin carefully wrapped one arm around Phantom’s shoulders and pulled the ghost close. “You did the right thing.”

               “I know, but I still wanted to let her die,” Phantom whispered letting Robin ground him. He wanted nothing more than to not worry that his mother was going to kill him.

               “But you didn’t. I know it hurts having your family turn against you,” Robin whispered. “I told you about my mother. Not the same I know, but it is similar.”

               “Yeah, it actually helps,” Phantom said with a small smile. “You’ve helped a lot. Thank you.”

               “So have you,” Robin smiled before leaning forward and kissing Phantom’s cheek. He was getting better about small gestures within relationships, and it always felt so easy with Danny.

               Nightwing came down with the paramedics. They set up their gurney and took Maddie away. Nightwing turned to Phantom and Robin to say something, but stopped when he seen how upset Phantom seemed.

               “It’ll be okay,” Robin promised with a small smile.

               “I know, but now, if I wasn’t on Vlad’s radar before, I definitely am now,” Phantom whispered looking around the lab to the cameras. “And that means that we have to be careful about who sees me. In either forms.”

* * *

 

**Metropolis**

               Vlad paced his hotel room angrily. Somehow Phantom managed to slip back to Amity and stop that manic from destroying the Ghost Zone. He had hoped that getting rid of most of the Ghost Zone; he would be able to rule it the way he was supposed to. He had studied everything and knew that he was to be the next ruler.

               He was the one that locked the sarcophagus that put Pariah away, but instead everyone praised Phantom for it.

               That little brat was ruining everything he worked so hard for.

               Now he just needed to get back to Amity before Phantom left and maybe he would be able to get the brat back into that lab and break him.

               Or get the information he needed to finish his clone which was sounding easier and easier every time he thought about it.

* * *

 

**FentonWorks**

               Phantom was in the Ops Center typing in codes on the computers with Damian sitting in one of the chairs.

               “You want to drag all of this tech from here?” Damian asked looking around. There was no way the Batwing would be able to take all of it.

               “If we get it up here, it won’t be a problem,” Phantom said with a small grin. Damian sighed as he stood up and started moving some of the boxes they had already taken up there.

               “How do you plan on getting it back to Gotham?” he asked as he stacked the two boxes full of thermos.

               “I planned on flying it,” Phantom answered as he opened up the panel that had an emergency switch in it. “They weren’t the best parents, but they did have their moments as scientists.”

               “This things flies?” Damian asked as the thing shuttered once before a giant balloon appeared on the top and the Ops Center released from the top of FentonWorks. Phantom smiled as the blimp started flying up.

               “Yep, and it can also turn into a jet,” Phantom said as he sat down on the seat. “But first, I need to get into the system and change some things.”

               “This is…actually pretty cool. Batman has a lot of tech, but nothing like this,” Damian whispered as he wondered around the things. Consoles and screens popped up as the thing settled in midair. “That’s a huge face.”

               “My dad was full of himself,” Phantom said absently as he looked up and logged into the Phantom Network. “I think I can get this working to Phantom’s instead.”

               “I can add some firewalls to it,” Damian added as he stood behind Phantom. “What kind of system do you want to add to this?”

               “Something to cut it off from the rest of Fenton Tech. I don’t want my mom or dad being able to access any of it again,” Phantom said as he started getting into the main system of the blimp.

               “We might be able to do that, but it’s going to take some work, and we’ll have to find the main Fenton Computer,” Damian said as he hopped on the computer next to Phantom.

               “This is the main computer system,” Phantom smiled as he pulled up the Fenton Network. “It shouldn’t take much to disable it entirely. If my parents ever get out of prison, they’re have to start from scratch again.”

               “Is this everything related to ghost hunting then?” Damian asked as he explored a bit of the information on the computer.

               “Everything that my parents knew, but I would like to point out that I am the expert. They really weren’t that great at hunting ghosts to begin with,” Phantom said as he started rewriting the system. The blimp was slowly getting higher and higher before breaking into the clouds.”Whoa.”

               “Well, Batman always was careful about hiding the Batwing,” Damian mused as Batman’s plane moved away from the incoming blimp. “Wasn’t expecting to be directly under it.”

               “At least it didn’t fire at us,” Phantom whispered as he stabilized the blimp to just let it float there next to the Batwing.

               “My belt is a sensor for it. It knows I’m on board and wouldn’t risk firing,” Damian informed as he helped tear down the Fenton Network. “It shouldn’t take too long for us to reset the system. It’s been hacked into enough.”

               “That would probably have been Tucker,” Phantom smiled at the memory of his friend. He always was able to disable certain Fenton Tech from tracking Phantom and going off around after almost a year and half of Danny having his powers. “Jack and Maddie weren’t very good at the whole computer system setup.”

               “I’ll say,” Damian laughed as he got in and started rebooting and uploading into Phantom’s Network that he had been working on for almost six months. He started after Danny told more about the other world and how very few people really believed that ghosts were real.

               Damian didn’t like being up against something he knew nothing about, but thanks to his boyfriend; he wouldn’t have to worry about any of it. Ghosts weren’t going to sideline him like many others have. He knew how to stop them, and now he would also have access to things that could catch them.

               “It’s kinda a mess, but it worked,” Phantom said as he jumped computers and started helping reset everything. “Now that we’re disconnected from FentonWorks, this system starts running on its own. Everything else stops running down there.”

               “Really?” Damian asked as he broke all firewalls in the system and started setting up his own.

               “Yeah, it was a flaw in the system that we figured out a while ago. It was a safety thing after Technus took over,” Phantom explained as he got past the security for the harder files. He looked and seen that they had plans for him while they had him.

* * *

 

_“Hold him, Jack,” Maddie yelled as Phantom struggled against the net. He hadn’t seen this tech yet. When did his parents even have time to make this without him noticing?_

_“You’re making a mistake, please. This isn’t…” Phantom screamed as he was electrocuted._

* * *

 

               “Hey, Danny,” Damian said pulling him away from the screen. “You’re alright.”

               “No, I’m really not,” Phantom whispered looking down as tears gathered in his eyes. Damian wrapped his arms around Phantom and pulled him close.

               “I’ve got you,” Damian said softly into his ear. “I won’t let anything happen to you.” Damian held him tightly as the shaking hybrid slowly wrapped his own arms around Damian.

               “They were going to…they knew,” Phantom whispered back shakily as he tried to pull himself somewhat together.

               Damian looked over to the screen and seen a video of his change. Anger coursed though his veins. He wasn’t going to let those monsters hurt Phantom anymore than they already have.

* * *

 

               Nightwing stood next to the bed where Maddie was handcuffed to it. She was slowly eating some of the hospital food with her only free hand.

               “Just because he’s a ghost, you think he’s going to destroy the world?” Nightwing asked. Batman wanted to ensure all bases were covered when it came to Danny. But Nightwing didn’t believe for a second that Danny would do any of the horrible things that Maddie was saying.

               “Ghosts are nothing more that malevolent creatures born of violence,” Maddie said as she glared at him. “You’ve seen Phantom’s powers. He’s dangerous.”

               “So am I,” Nightwing informed glaring at her. “So is Batman. Superman. Wonderwoman. They’re all dangerous. Phantom’s no different. He chose to save you. Even knowing how you feel about him, he still put that aside to save your life even when you told him you would rather die. So really, who’s the bad guy here?”

               “It’s just a trick. That’s what ghosts do best,” Maddie sneered glaring at Nightwing. “He’s been pretending to be my son for the past few months, and he won’t tell what he did to Danny.” Nightwing looked at her before shaking his head. Having dealt with secret identities and being a hero, he understood a lot about ensuring that people don’t find out certain things.

               This was no different than if one of his bad guys figured out who he was under the mask.

               “Yet, you won’t consider that maybe, just maybe, Danny has been Phantom the whole time,” Nightwing said back unkindly. “People like you are the reason most heroes hide who they are. Maybe that’s something you can think about while you sit in jail for murder.” Nightwing stood up and exited the room giving a small nod to the guard at the doorway.

               “I’ll find out what happened to my son if it’s the last thing I do,” Maddie promised with a glare as she leaned back into the bed.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got it caught up now...yehay.  
> More comments on what you like or loved about the stories makes it update faster.


	7. Past Actions

Incision

Chapter Six

_Past Actions_

_With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts._

_Eleanor Roosevelt_

* * *

 

               Phantom was pacing across the blimp while Damian was working on the computers. After his panic attack, Damian refused to let him help until he was sure that anything else that could trigger his boyfriend was taken care of.

               “Hey, what about the rest of the Fenton Tech back at your house?” Damian asked as he finished tearing apart the main network.

               “None of what I left is really worth it. Most of the guns don’t really work any better than any other ecto weapon they can just buy. I just took the trackers and the unstable crazy ones that pose a danger to me,” Phantom said as he stopped and looked over at the boxes that were piled up in the corner.

               “So you’re safe if they ever get free or if anyone else gets a hold of them,” Damian confirmed glad that Phantom would be safe.

               “Yeah, and the fact that as an adult and the fact that I can now own Fenton Patents,” Phantom smiled. “Might need Bruce’s help with that, especially if you’re so interested in getting into some of that science.”

               “He’ll help, and so will I,” Damian sighed. He didn’t want his father’s help, but it seemed like that would be a good idea if Wayne Enterprises was backing Danny in getting access to those patents to prevent Masters and the Fentons from getting them. “There’s a lot of work to do.”

               “With you at my side, I’m sure we can handle it,” Phantom said with a light smile. He was glad Damian was the one to help him. He didn’t think he would have gotten this far without the hero’s help.

* * *

 

**City Hall**

               Vlad paced the study trying to figure out where Daniel had taken the Fenton Ops center and how he had done it. From everything Vlad seen of the Fenton inventions, there was no way he could take off with that monstrosity easily. Clearly Daniel made friends with someone while he was off the radar.

               “Sir, there’s two aircraft above FentonWorks,” one of the agents said as they walked into the room. “Do you want us to send someone to see what they are?”

               “Yes, and then shoot both down; bring me any survivors,” Vlad ordered glaring at the man. He knew that Maddie was a brilliant scientist, and soon she would be free of that oaf called Jack. He just needed to see where she landed last and pull some ghostly connections to free her.

               He sat down at his desk and started going though some papers before reaching for his phone.

               “Skulker, report,” Vlad demanded into his phone. Static came through for a few short seconds before a response.

               “Metropolis hasn’t had any type of ectoplasmtic reading besides mine, but I do believe you may have been followed after we landed, but I don’t know who or why.” Static frizzed after making Vlad rub his temples.

               “Young Daniel seems to have come home for whatever reason,” Vlad started only to be cut off when a hand pressed a button on the phone.

               “The reason was my son,” a woman’s voice cut though angrily. Vlad looked up at her wide eyed and surprised that anyone could get the drop on him.

               “Who the hell are you?” he growled as he felt his powers come close to the surface. The woman leaned forward glaring at him.

               “My name is Talia al Ghul,” she answered before a sneer appeared on her face. “And I want to keep my son away from that monster you seem to be looking for. Poorly I might add. He’s been hanging out with the Batman.” Vlad’s eyes widen.

               Daniel didn’t trust people easily. It was one of the things he ensured when he first figured out the child’s abilities. Valerie and his parents in particular; strangers in general.

               “How do you know this?” Vlad asked watching her carefully. He’s never heard of her, and he doesn’t want her to know more than she apparently already does.

               “The League of Shadows is always watching for threats to this world,” she said as if that wasn’t what the Justice League was for. “Dealing with them under everyone’s nose.”

               “What exactly do you want me to do?” Vlad asked watching her carefully. She was hiding something, and she said something about having a son that Daniel had apparently grown attached to. This could work in his favor if he played it out right. He just needed to know what exactly he was up against.

               “I’ll help you get your hands on that abomination if you help me get my son back from the Batman,” she offered as she watched the man just as carefully as he was watching her. She needed this to work. She couldn’t have her son in love with some freak of nature that should be destroyed.

               “As nice an offer as that sounds, I’m not entirely sure I can trust you,” Vlad said leaning back in his chair. She had no ectoweapon, and so he was not too concerned. She may have been heavily armed, but she would be no match for him.

               The only thing that really concerned him was that she knew about Daniel and his search. She was resourceful and he wondered if she also knew about his ghost half.

               “I’ve looked into your business dealings, and they’re not nearly as honorable as you seem to claim,” she informed crossing her arms and standing straight. Vlad narrowed his eyes at her play in dominance. “So why don’t we just cut the crap and get right down to it. I want my son away from that monster, and you clearly want that monster for your own personal gains. I can help with that as long as you help me.” Vlad looked her up and down before leaning forward against his desk. He had some research to do on Ms. Al Ghul clearly.

               “Give me a couple days to decide, and I’ll give you a call,” Vlad said looking at her and handing her some paper and a pen.

               “No, I’ll come back in two days. You better have the right answer,” she informed before exiting though the door. He got up quickly and followed her, but she was already gone.

               There was no way she was a ghost. He would have known.

               How’d she disappear?

* * *

 

               Phantom looked on the screen before grabbing the controls and flipping the blimp around about as fast as a blimp could flip around as a missile shot by them. Damian grabbed a rail before looking at the Batwing that had also moved out of the way of the missile.

               “What the hell?” Damian yelled before Phantom shifted the ship to see where the missile came from. Damian watched as the color drained from Phantom’s face.

               “Not them please not them,” Phantom whispered as he let go of the controls. Damian raced to him and held him up as he grabbed the controls and steered closer to the Batwing which was now registering them as friendly. The Batwing opened fire on the incoming craft sending it towards the ground while Damian steered the blimp. His arms were wrapped around Phantom making it difficult to move, but he could feel the fear.

               The temperature in the ship got colder as Phantom’s panic grew.

               “Danny, I really need your help right now,” Damian whispered in his ear as he guided the blimp up a little to give the Batwing room to move beneath them and form some kind of protection since no one was in the other ship. “Please, I don’t know how this ship works very well, and you do.”

               “I can…I can’t,” Phantom mumbled as he started shaking. Damian hated that he had to do this, but there wasn’t much of a choice.

               “Danny, pull yourself together. You can break down later, right now I need to know how to use the attacks on this blimp,” Damian ordered making the hybrid tense. The cold in the ship let up before Phantom looked down at the controls. He pressed a button that pulled out about five weapons before aiming them at the ships that were now coming back towards them.

               “Sorry,” Phantom whispered as he fired the blasts making the other jet lose its main engine and go crashing down to the ground. Damian gently rested his head on Phantom’s shoulder.

               “You’re alright,” Damian whispered. He knew this was a risk with Phantom. One that the other two wouldn’t take into consideration. Phantom was prone to panic attacks when faced with his past. It was why Damian didn’t want to start out so heavy in training, and why he would hold back. He let Phantom set the pace most of the time, and sometimes when Danny really let go, Damian had the best times.

               “I…why can’t I just…why am I so out of control?” Phantom growled out at himself. Damian pulled his hands up and wrapped Phantom in a hug from behind him.

               “You’re alright. It’s something we need to work on. Just like everything else we’ve done, we’ll get there,” Damian promised. He sometimes had times where he wasn’t sure how he should handle things either, but Danny couldn’t think during those times. His panic would overwhelm him.

               “I hate this,” Phantom whispered as he reached up for the controls. “How’d they even know we were here?”

               “I don’t know, but all we should have to do is rebuild the system and add in your network,” Damian said as he eased back. The nightmares would be bad tonight, and he wasn’t going to leave Phantom to deal with them by himself. “So, we can probably go ahead and get out of here before they come back. Batman can handle himself.”

               “Alright,” Phantom stood up before taking Damian by the hand and leading him to another control station at the front of the blimp. “I’m going to turn this into a jet. It shouldn’t be much different than flying any other sort of jet.” Damian nodded with a slight smile. Batman hardly ever willingly let him drive.

               “I can do it,” Damian smiled as he took over the controls as Phantom walked over to the refrigerator and opened it. He pulled out the spoiled ham before turning it intangible and throwing it out of the blimp.

               “That’s gross,” Phantom grumbled before hitting the button beneath it. The blimp jumped forward and up before wings came out the top and the front extended creating a bit more room on the inside.

               “This is cool,” Damian grinned as the steering wheel for the blimp was taken under the console and the jet wheel came out. Damian grabbed it as the jet dove forward. Damian pulled up until the jet started heading off towards Gotham. “Danny, you alright back there?”

               “Yeah,” Phantom said faintly. He walked up to Damian who was trying to steer an unfamiliar ship and make sure Phantom was okay.

               “Are you sure?” Damian asked as Phantom kneeled on the ground next to him before leaning against the chair Damian was sitting in.

               “Not really, but I think it’s safe to breakdown now,” Phantom whispered feeling hollow. Damian gently reached out for Phantom. He carded his hand though the white locks.

               “Yeah, you’re good now,” Damian smiled. He knew Phantom was going to crash later. Probably with a major nightmare to follow since it usually happened when Damian stopped Phantom from going though his panics completely without time to really stop and work it out.

               “Awesome, cause it feels like my heart is trying to tear its way out of my chest,” Phantom sighed as he leaned into Damian’s hand. Damian winced lightly before taking a quick look at Phantom seeing the ghost shiver slightly.

               They needed to land before Phantom got any worse.

* * *

 

_“Danny, I need you to wake up,” Damian pleaded trying to keep the volume down, but the screaming wouldn’t stop. Danny’s entire body was glowing lightly, but all Damian could focus on was the screaming. “Danny, please, I need you to wake up.”_

_Damian pulled Danny’s arm back when suddenly the hybrid shot up and over him taking a fighting stance. Damian could see the shaking from where he was still lying on the bed._

_“Danny?” Damian asked not moving. Glowing green eyes were blanking staring at him. “Danny? Are you alright?”_

_“Where am I?” Danny growled out narrowing his eyes at Damian. Damian took in a breath. This wasn’t the first time Danny had a nightmare, but it was the first time Danny seemed to forget where he was and who he was with._

_“You’re in Gotham,” Damian answered carefully slowly getting up. Danny tensed and green energy pulsed in his hand. Damian stopped watching the light carefully. He knew about Danny’s powers, but this was really the first time seeing them as deadly energy. “Danny, you’re in Gotham. I’m Damian Wayne. Remember?”_

_“Damian?” Danny whispered slightly shaking his head while keeping an eye on Damian. “I don’t remember…I…”_

_“You had a nightmare; you were screaming,” Damian explained as the green energy died in Danny’s hand. “You’re in Gotham, with me.”_

_“You’re Robin,” Danny said staring at Damian with slight confusion as he pulled himself into the present. “You saved me.”_

_“Yeah, I helped you. Now you may have upset your wounds,” Damian whispered only for the green energy to light back up in Danny’s hand when he moved off the bed._

_“Stay back,” Danny warned as he took a couple steps backward before hitting the wall. Damian stopped moving afraid that he would use his powers to go though it to get away._

_“I’m not coming any closer,” Damian promised. “Danny?”_

_“I’m…sorry, just not now,” Danny said as he held the energy up to his face with surprise. It’d been so long since he seen that color green. The bright toxic green that his powers created always seemed to calm him._

_“You’re alright, Danny. Take your time,” Damian said as he leaned back into the bed. He hated being unexpectedly awakened, but with Danny like this, he needed to be as his most relaxed and his most alert._

_He could do this. He could help instead of making things worse._

_“Danny, just relax, I’m here. I told you I was going to help you,” Damian said as he held his hands up in surrender hoping it helped. “You’re safe here, Danny. No one’s going to attack you.”_

_“I’m safe,” Danny repeated softly letting the energy dissipate in his hand. “I’m in Gotham.”_

_“Yeah, you’re safe and in Gotham,” Damian smiled slightly as Danny relaxed. Damian took a single step forward. Danny looked up at him before running up to him and giving him a hug._

_“I’m safe,” Danny whispered again as tears started to form in his eyes. “Thank you.”_

_“You’re welcome,” Damian whispered as he remembered Bruce telling him that being a hero was sometimes a thankless job._

_This time it wasn’t._

* * *

 

               Danny sighed as he laid on the couch in their apartment. They temporarily rented a warehouse to keep the newly named Phantom Jet, as Damian was now calling it. He was so not looking forward to the nightmares that were sure to come tonight. He looked at the clock.

               It was running to one in the morning.

               Even if he stayed up all night, the nightmares would only get worse if he tried to delay them. Danny slowly stood up and slipped over to the kitchen. He wondered if he could away with getting an alcoholic drink when the door slammed open.

               Danny sighed. Damian could never just open the door like a normal person. Danny walked over to see his boyfriend looking angry at something.

               “Damian? You’re going to break the door one of these days,” Danny smiled. Damian looked up at Danny. Damian sighed as concern added to his emotions. He had hoped that Danny was already asleep, but he knew that Danny would try to avoid nightmares as much as possible.

               “I thought you would be asleep by now,” Damian said as he walked over to Danny and wrapped his arms around him.

               “You know me…insomniac,” Danny laughed as Damian kissed his cheek. Damian pulled back just enough to really look at Danny and took in the dark bags under his red eyes.

               “Yeah, I guess, but you should really get some sleep,” Damian said pushing Danny out of the room. “Come on, I’ll stay with you.”

               “Thanks,” Danny whispered not wanting to admit that he really didn’t want to face what tonight had in store for him alone.

* * *

 

               Vlad paced across his office angrily. The Guys in White ship was shot down, and now Daniel was missing again. Vlad shot a pink ray at the wall with a scream of rage.

               “Sir?” a voice called from behind him fearfully. Vlad turned with red glaring eyes and energy crackling around him.

               “What?” he growled lowly. The agent shied away from him..

               “I have that information you asked for,” he whispered holding out a file. “The League of Shadows has a long, bloody history.” Vlad torn the file from the hands of the agent before opening it.

               “This isn’t nearly as useful as information on who her son exactly is. I figure it’s probably Robin. But I need a name,” Vlad said sharply glaring at the agent. He couldn’t ever keep their names right.

               “Nothing yet, but we’re looking for connections. But many have tried to find out the identity of Batman, but no one really has been able to,” the agent said keeping his eyes to the floor. They all knew better than to cross Vlad. The last one to do so ended up being stuffed and hung up in their office with his ghost captured in a tube not far from his body.

               “Do better,” Vlad demanded before pointing to the door. The agent scrambled out of the door just before Vlad shot a pink blast at it.

               “You’re good,” Vlad growled upset that his hand was played. “But I’m better.”

               “And now, Daniel, I know where you are.”

* * *

 

_“Holy shit, Robin,” Danny nearly screamed as he turned around to see Robin standing behind him way too close for comfort. Danny could feel the panic start to creep up on him and he took in a few deep breathes, but it didn’t stop his shaking._

_“Did I scare you?” Robin asked with a slight grin only for it to drop when Danny did._

_Robin didn’t know what to do when it came to panic attacks._

 

 


	8. The Deadly Sins of Our Fathers

Incision

Chapter Seven

_The Deadly Sins of Our Fathers_

_The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life._

_Richard Bach_

* * *

"Danny, come on, get up," Damian pleaded hearing the whimpers coming from his boyfriend who was lying almost completely still next to him. Danny was on his back and slightly shaking. Damian could tell this was a bad one.

Danny seemed to be strapped down by nothing yet everything.

Damian crawled over him before laying on him and grabbing his hands and forcing them up over Danny's head. It was one of the only movements that never really bothered Danny. Sometimes it helped to ground him in the present.

"Danny, I need you to wake up, please," Damian whispered gently kissing his cheek. Fear crawled up Damian's spine. He knew it wasn't logical, but he also knew that fear wasn't just his.

Danny.

* * *

" _He has organs unlike the other ghosts," O said as he pulled part of the intestine out. Phantom was screaming as he felt the hands inside him. A gag was tied in his mouth making it hard to breath and muffling his yells. "Should we take them out?"_

" _We can't kill him yet, and we don't know enough about what he is," K growled before covering Phantom's month to help muffle the screaming. "He said not to kill him yet."_

" _Yeah, but, whatever, check it out, his stomach is shaped like a human. This ghost could lead us into making armies of near indestructible hybrids," O grinned. "We wouldn't need the Justice League or any of those other armies. We could take over all of it."_

" _That sounds good, but we'd have to have a way to control that power," K said looking at his partner. "Plus, Phantom is only the beginning. We could finally destroy the Ghost Zone."_

* * *

Danny screamed as Damian tightened his hold on Danny's wrist.

"Danny, please. You're safe. You're in Gotham. I'm here. I helped you," Damian pleaded once more as tears started down his face. They landed on Danny's face who shot his eyes open to stare into dark green.

"Damian," Danny whispered quietly as he blinked a couple of times. "Where…What happened?"

"You had a nightmare," Damian said as relief shot through him. "You seriously had me worried. You weren't waking up."

"Oh," Danny sighed as he looked up at his hands that were still trapped by Damian. "I don't remember it." Damian looked at Danny worriedly before backing off. A long time ago, Damian pieced those nightmares together. They were always dealing with Danny's vivisection scar.

"Yeah, I didn't think you would. You alright now?" Damian asked as Danny slowly sat up with him. Danny could feel the cold sweat on him.

"I think so. I'm sore," Danny whispered, gently resting his hand on his chest where his scar was. "It hurts."

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up," Damian said as he stood up from the bed. He looked at the time.

Four in the morning.

Today was going to be a long day.

* * *

"Master Bruce, is something wrong?" Alfred asked as he set coffee and some breakfast on the table near the Bat Computer.

"Yeah, Talia was also in Amity Park, but she never helped her father or showed up when we were there. She just let us take him in," Bruce informed as he looked over what exactly it was that Ra's was planning. "But he wanted to destroy the Ghost Zone. I didn't even think that they would believe such a place existed. It's not making sense."

"Maybe Danny has some of those answers," Alfred suggested, looking over the files as well. "Danny is our expert in such things."

"But not the only one," Bruce said as he pulled up the files on Maddie and Jack Fenton. "They're Danny's parents, but they were also responsible for the death of Samantha Manson and Tucker Foley. Both families hired high priced lawyers and got the best prosecutors to get both of them in prison for a couple lifetimes."

"Then how did Mrs. Fenton end up in that lab?" Alfred asked looking over some of the information that was there.

"Ra's broke her out and tortured her apparently. He couldn't get in the system, and with the only other Fenton having gone underground, he had no choice but get her," Bruce said, looking over the files again. "It appears that Jack would have been the better answer, but he was also harder to move."

"Danny has access to all that information. He's the only one then?" Alfred asked, looking back at Bruce.

"There's another name that was thrown out to also get access. If Danny wasn't already eighteen, he would also have gotten custody," Bruce said as he pulled up pictures that Clark had taken and more information

"Vlad Masters? Again?" Alfred said, looking at the man. "Seems full of himself."

"He's tried to buy the Packers," Bruce said flatly, shaking his head. Rich people who always tried to buy everything. He laughed at the irony slightly before staring at the man. "There's something off though, and I bet Danny can tell us exactly what it is. If his name keeps popping up, we're going to have to go to Danny."

"What do you plan on doing in the meantime?" Alfred asked as he cleaned up around the computer a little.

"Get me Lucius, I have a new idea for a science project."

* * *

"Thanks," Danny whispered as Damian set some coffee down in front of him. "I feel like death."

"You're not looking much better," Damian joked as he sat down next to Danny with his tea. "Still can't remember your nightmare?"

"Not really," Danny mumbled, looking at his coffee. "Just screaming."

"Well, you were screaming. It's what woke me up," Damian said as he took a drink and watched Danny carefully as well.

"Sorry," Danny whispered, hanging his head. He hated when his nightmares woke Damian up.

"It's not a big deal. I'm more concerned about you." Damian reached for Danny's hand. Danny tensed slightly before relaxing and letting Damian hold it. "It was too much yesterday."

"Yeah, think Bruce will leave me alone for a bit about it all? I want to go back into the hero business, but not yet. It's still too much. They're still out there," Danny sighed. He took a drink of his coffee when there was a knock on their door. "Who could it be now?"

"I'll get it," Damian whispered getting up and giving Danny a quick kiss before heading to the door and grabbing his dagger that he kept close by. "Who is it?"

"Grayson," Dick called from behind the door. Damian growled under his breath before opening the door.

"What do you want?" Damian asked, trying to keep the bite out of his voice.

"I just wanted to thank Danny for helping me," Dick said as he entered the apartment.

"At five in the morning?" Damian asked, looking at the clock on the wall.

"Figured you were up, and hey I was right," Dick smiled, but stopped when he looked at Danny. "Danny, you alright?"

"He had a nightmare," Damian whispered gently, putting his hand on Dick's shoulder. "Don't. He sometimes loses time and can lash out."

"Has he considered getting help?" Dick asked, looking at Danny who was now fisting his hair in his hands. "I mean, there's clearly some problems if he…" Dick trailed off, seeing the anger in Damian's eyes.

"He's hurt, that's all," Damian growled. "He's not a problem."

"That's not what I meant and you know it," Dick shot back, turning towards his brother. "Look, you clearly love him. That's not the problem, but if he's had traumatic experiences, then he should see a professional. I've had Canary help me though some of the things that happened to me."

"He," Damian paused before looking over at Danny again. "He was vivisected and experimented on, Grayson. It's not easy to hide something like that without someone spilling the beans that he's living in Gotham." Dick's eyes widened before turning to look at Danny again. "I don't know how to help him anymore than I've already done."

"He can talk to Canary. Keep it in the League. Most Leaguers talk to her about some of the bad stuff, and she is a trained psychologist," Dick suggested. "I mean, it won't get out that way either." Damian sighed.

"Yeah, I was thinking about it," Damian whispered. "But Danny has to want to, and I highly doubt he'll want to talk to a stranger."

"You guys don't have to talk about me like I'm not here," Danny called out from the other room. "I can hear you."

"Right, super hearing," Damian said lowly, looking at Dick who was trying to hold back a laugh.

"Well, clearly you know what we were talking about," Dick said as he went in the kitchen and sat down next to Danny. "It could help."

"I know. I've heard that enough times from my sister. She was studying to be a psychologist before they killed her," Danny said as he leaned back in his chair. Damian entered too sitting on Danny's other side.

"Canary is the League's. She does it for a living too," Dick said, feeling like Danny could use confidence at this point. "She's seen and heard it all. She could help."

"Really?" Danny asked skeptically. "Are you sure?"

"Well," Dick sighed, picking up on what Danny was referring to. "Not yet, but she can help. She's knows different techniques that can help. She even has some of her own that helps with some of the ones who have troubles with their powers."

"I don't have trouble with my powers anymore. They respond like they're supposed to," Danny growled, glaring at Dick. "Nightmares aren't a new thing for me. I've had them long before my friends and sister was killed."

"Look, it might help to talk to someone who isn't really part of this whole mess. They can give you a different perspective. It could help ease the nightmares," Dick said, ignoring the sound of Damian slammed his cup on the table.

"I know, but it doesn't matter how many times I go over what happened. I can't change it, and I know it. What happened yesterday triggered them; I was doing better," Danny said as he took a drink of his coffee. "I'll be fine. Just not at the moment."

"Alright," Dick sighed. Danny did seem to have it under control unlike some of the people he came across that refused to get help.

"Great, now did you come here to thank me or was there more?" Danny asked, looking at Dick. Similar to how Damian would do to get down to business when he didn't want to talk about something.

"Yeah, Bruce had a recording of the ship that attacked you," Dick said as he pulled out his minicomputer.

"It was the Guys in White," Danny answered. "It's not the first time I've fought them."

"But it is the first time after being underground for over a year," Damian pointed out as he raised his head to glare at Danny. "You did choke a little."

"That's what I have you for though, isn't it?" Danny joked, trying to lighten the mood. He couldn't deal with everything crashing again so soon after a nightmare. He may not remember it, but he felt like any little thing could tear down what sanity he managed to find.

"Yeah, but I'm not always going to be able to knock sense into you," Damian said with a yawn. Dick looked at the two and realized that they could end up fighting. Neither seemed really willing to fight about it though.

"I know that, but for now you are," Danny smiled slightly. "Besides, we survived, and now all we need to do is make a plan. 'Cause I'm not sure if they know who I am or not."

"That's means this place is compromised," Damian muttered angrily. "Damnit, I liked this one."

"Sorry, using my real name helped keep it hidden from your dad, but it won't help against them," Danny said. He finished his coffee and got up and put it in the sink. "So we're going to have to do something else now."

"We could set a trap," Dick suggested. "I mean, we'll have to bring Bruce in on it, but if they do know who you are, then we also know they're coming for you."

"That could work, but you have to understand, they work for the government," Danny said as he leaned against the counter. Damian drank the rest of his tea before turning to Danny.

"Yeah, but this isn't the first corrupt government organization we've gone against, and they have to keep a low profile," Damian added, only for Danny to shake his head.

"They don't care," he said. "They'll do whatever it takes to take me down."

"Then Batman comes in and says no," Dick said, looking at Danny. "Not many people truly trust the government, but for whatever reason, they'll trust the Dark Knight."

"That could work, but how do you plan on making that happen? I mean, clearly Bruce is on my side, but if our trap works, how are we going to get the word out?" Danny asked, looking at the two of them. Damian sat up with a smile.

"You said Vlad Masters is rich and full of himself right?" Damian asked, making both Dick and Danny look at him curiously.

"Yeah, and I'm pretty sure he was responsible for the lab too," Danny added, trying to figure out what was going on in Damian's head.

"We're going to need the rest of the Bat Family," Damian smiled at Dick. "Think Todd will being willing to annoy a certain billionaire that's been after Danny?"

"Ya know, I think he would just love some action," Dick smiled as Danny looked between the two wondering what exactly he missed.

* * *

"Hang on, you want me to harass  _The_  Vlad Masters to buy you guys time to gather evidence against him in order to protect your boy toy," Jason confirmed, looking at the two. "And since when you are you gay, Damian? I figured that kind of thing was too below you and your mission to rid the world of evil."

"Jason, please. Danny needs help and we need as much extra hands on board as we can get," Dick pleaded, hoping this would work. Jason could buy them time to get into Vlad's systems and Red Robin could shut it all down.

They just needed to find Red Robin first.

"And I don't answer to you," Damian growled, glaring at Jason. He wasn't going to explain what he felt for Danny to this loser.

"Seriously?! I've been outta the loop for like four months and this all happens?" Jason exclaimed. "I mean seriously, if anyone was gay here I thought for sure it would be Dick!"

"I have a girlfriend by the way," Dick deadpanned staring at Jason with crossed arms. "And Damian hid it from everyone, including Bruce, for over a year now."

"A year?" Jason questioned turning to Damian in shock. "Impressive, but how?"

"Danny can turn invisible whenever he wants to," Damian said glaring at him. "Are you going to help or not? Cause we need to find our expert hacker too."

"Drake doesn't really want to be bothered," Jason muttered turning away from them. "I tried getting his help a couple months back and he was pretty pissed."

"About what?" Dick asked glad they had one more on Team Danny. Or the new Team Phantom as Danny liked calling them.

"Something about him not wanting to deal with us anymore. I think Bruce pissed him off last time we were on call," Jason said with a shrug. Damian pinched his nose before glaring at Jason.

"Do you have any idea where we can find him?" Damian asked irritated. Their plan relied on all of them.

"Last I heard he was still hanging with the Young Justice crowd," Jason said as he leaned against the ally wall. "Just what exactly is Danny if he can turn invisible whenever he wants to?"

Damian's only answer was a wicked grin before he left the ally.

* * *

"I'm done with you guys," Tim said glaring at Nightwing. He was not going back there just to watch them nearly tear each other apart. He was done listening to Too-Good for You Damian Wayne.

"Come on. The only reason Damian isn't here is because the rest of your team want to beat him up, but he's changed in the past year," Nightwing said following Tim down the hallway of their base. Tim stopped and glared at Nightwing.

"Really? He wants my help. He can't hack something himself?" Tim asked staring at Nightwing.

"Not his exact words, but we need as much help as we can get to help Danny," Nightwing explained. "And before you say no, Danny is Damian's boyfriend."

"Damian's not gay," Tim muttered before turning away from him. "Why do you guys insist on messing with me?"

"Yeah, he won't really give me a straight answer, but I've caught them more times than I like flat out making out," Nightwing shuddered remembering seeing Damian and Danny. That was very disturbing.

"Fine, I'll go only because it's only way to prove that you're lying. And when I figure it out, you aren't to ever bother me again," Tim agreed to glaring at Nightwing who was grinning.

"Awesome, now that we have a team, we can put the plan into action."

"What about Batman?"

"He's a distraction."

* * *

"You guys are leading Masters into a trap?" Bruce said staring at Danny who was sitting at the table in the Bat Cave. "Are you sure?"

"It was Damian and Dick's idea," Danny defended. "But we have to take care of this problem eventually. And I'd rather have the element of surprise than to be side swiped again by him."

"You said he has the same powers you do," Bruce said leaning back in his chair and watching Danny carefully. Danny was nervous, but he wasn't lying about anything. He didn't seem to be hiding anything either.

"And about twenty years on me on how to use them. Ghost powers aren't just there, they grow and expand," Danny explained as he let a green light appear around his hand. "We just need to get a way for him to come to Gotham and be in the spotlight."

"You want my help as Bruce Wayne," Bruce sighed. "Of course this could blow my identity."

"It could be the only way to save it too," Danny suggested. "If Masters comes to look for me, then he connects me to you, he'll figure it out. He's not an idiot. But if we stop the connection to Wayne and keep the one to Batman…"

"He won't suspect who I am," Bruce finished leaning forward again. "This also depends on getting the others to help."

"I know we got Jason to help, and Dick is working on getting Tim's," Danny informed as he pulled out his laptop. "Damian is working on getting me some ectoplasm to make some ecto weapons for you guys."

"I don't do guns," Bruce said glaring at the hybrid.

"I might be able to create something," Danny smiled lightly. Bruce snorted before he stood up and headed over to the wall. He pressed his hand against a panel and the wall shifted. Danny's eyes widened seeing some of his parents' invention taken apart and different weapons that Batman used but with a slight green glow to them.

"I was interested in your parents work when Amity Park first disappeared. Everyone thought that everyone was just trying to make it seem like it was haunted for tourist, but I got some samples and was worried," Bruce said as Danny picked up a batarang.

"This is much more stable than anything my parents ever created. I could do it, but not without the help of my powers," Danny whispered feeling the energy course though him. It didn't hurt. Ectoplasm itself didn't hurt until someone wanted it to.

"After you and Damian left last time, I decided to look more into ectoplasmic sciences, which might just be the thing to get Masters interested long enough to get you guys the time needed to get to his system," Bruce said as he pulled something that looked similar to the Specter Deflector, but smaller.

"Yeah, got anymore of those for the rest of them," Danny asked looking at Bruce with a smile. "I might be able to alter them so they don't shock me."

"I should only need your ecto-signature," Bruce informed as he pulled up a couple files on the computer. "Not sure how it works just yet."

"Then I guess it's a good thing I do," Danny laughed as he changed into Phantom. Bruce watched carefully as the kid easily did the impossible.


	9. Toxic Green and Pink

  

Incision

Chapter Eight

_ Toxic Green and Pink _

_ All you need is the plan, the road map, and the courage to press on to your destination. _

_ Earl Nightingale _

* * *

 

“I don’t believe it,” Red muttered, watching as Damian pulled Danny into a kiss just to prove that they were together. Although now they were just making out to make everyone else uncomfortable.

“That’s enough,” Bruce yelled at the two. Danny jumped back, but Damian held him tightly before sending a glare to everyone in the room.

“Told you so,” Nightwing laughed. Damian put his mask on before turning to everyone.

“So we need to take down Vlad Masters,” Bruce said as he pulled up the files on the computer table used for team meetings like this one. “He owns several companies, and all of them now have something to do with ectoplasm.”

“Ghosts?” Hood said looking at Danny skeptically before he laughed. “Phantom, Danny Phantom.”

“Guilty,” Danny whispered before looking down. He could trust these people, but he wasn’t about to change for them.

“Okay, ghosts aren’t real,” Red said glaring at him. Danny sighed before vanishing from sight making the temperature in the room drop. “Okay, so you can make the room cold and disappear.”

“I can more than that,” Damian said as he opened green eyes. “I can do things that most people can only dream of.”

“Did you just possess your boyfriend?” Hood asked with wide eyes. Nightwing was glad it wasn’t him. Damian had threatened him with it multiple times so far.

“Not the first time I’ve been inside him,” Danny-Damian said while crossing his arms before a glow appeared around Damian and Danny appeared next to him.

“Enough,” Bruce said, glaring at Danny who only shrugged at him. Damian sent a small glare at Danny before smacking his arm. Danny only grinned at him.

“Alright, now I understand why you were scarred,” Hood whispered back to Nightwing.

“Yeah, and you guys just made it worse,” Nightwing grumbled as Bruce pulled up the information they got on the Guys in White.

“These guys are now owned by Masters. They held Danny in a compound for six months before he escaped,” Bruce explained pulling up the images of the compound and a list of employees. Danny was tense next to Damian, but they had already gone over this in private just to help prevent Danny from having a panic attack. Just to see how far they could push before Danny couldn’t handle it anymore.

“How’d you get out?” Red asked quietly seeing how tight the security was. “And why?”

“Power surge, and I shouldn’t exist,” Danny answered looking away from him. “Ghosts aren’t considered sentient beings, and therefore are free game for experimentation.”

“Do I have to use rubber bullets?” Hood asked looking at Bruce. “Cause I don’t think they deserve that mercy.” Bruce glared at him before he crossed his arms and glared at the screen.

“So, you want me to erase everything regarding Danny from their systems?” Red asked looking though some of the information. “They kinda seem dumb. They’re computer systems are crap.”

“They’re not the smartest,” Danny added in before bringing up what the compound looks like now. It was nothing more than a crater.

“I thought you said it was a power surge,” Hood said looking at Danny.

“It was. It was my powers,” Danny sighed looking away from them. Damian gently rested his hand on Danny’s lower back hoping to ground Danny a little. “They tried to drain my powers so I would stop fighting them, instead they surged. I haven’t really been able to use them to their fullest until a few weeks ago.”

“So you torn down the house,” Hood said impressed. Danny looked away.

“They cut me open and tried to use the information gathered to destroy the Ghost Zone,” Danny said looking back to Damian. “The Ghost Zone is where ghosts live, and if anything happens to it, this world will go with it. They exist on the same plane. The Ghost Zone is basically like the space between spaces. It’s why ghosts can pass through objects, and why humans can pass through objects in the Ghost Zone.”

“That sounds like awesome, crazy science,” Nightwing added looking at Danny. He wanted to really sit down with the hybrid and talk about some of it, but it would have to wait until after they take care of this mess and save Danny.

“It is, but it’s dangerous too,” Danny said as he looked up at the ceiling. “They want to get rid of the Zone because they believe that every ghost wants to destroy this world. And that’s not true. Some do, but most of them I was able to stop. And the vast majority of them just want to be left alone.”

“Most of them?” Bruce questioned looking at Danny curiously. Danny looked down.

“Some I needed help with, and some I lost at first before being able to beat them,” Danny said looking at them. “I was the only one who was able to stop them at the time. No one else had the power I do.”

“What about Vlad?” Bruce asked making everyone turn to the hybrid.

“We always just came to stalemates. We usually just met each other, one never really getting the better of the other. It’s why I knew he was behind all of this mess,” Danny explained as he pulled up Vlad’s college file. “He was in an accident in college that gave him his powers. He was in the hospital for five years before suddenly getting rich. He got that way by robbing banks and underselling properties to himself. He used his powers to do it all.”

“Wow,” Red whispered seeing all the information that Danny had on the man. “Isn’t that Jack and Maddie Fenton? Aren’t they the ones who are supposed to be ghost experts that no one takes seriously?”

“They’re also my parents,” Danny added making everyone become quiet.

“Are they responsible for you getting your powers?” Red asked looking at him concerned. Danny shook his head.

“No, I was in their lab without them. I went into the portal hoping to fix it so it would work. I got it to work, but at a price,” Danny whispered as he held up a hand with green energy. “After a couple months I was able to control the powers, and then when more and more ghosts started coming out of the portal, I knew I was the only one able to stop them. I had their powers. A lot of my parent’s inventions worked, and I was able to stop ghosts and put them back in the Ghost Zone.”

“Where did Masters come in?” Bruce asked looking at Danny who seemed okay considering they just shoved his past in his face with the Guys in White.

“They were friends in college and Masters blamed my dad for the accident in college and for taking the love of his life away,” Danny sighed looking at the ground. Damian gently traced down Danny’s arm before picking up his hand and holding it.

“Who was the love of his life?” Hood asked wondering why the man would blame someone for that.

“It is my mom,” Danny answered making Hood and Red both wince. Nightwing only shook his head.

“Why can’t guys take no for an answer?” Nightwing muttered. “I mean seriously, if the lady isn’t interested, leave it and move on.”

“I’ve been telling him that since I was fourteen,” Danny said as he tightened his hold on Damian’s hand glad for the gesture.

“Now we have some history, we need to take him down,” Bruce said as he brought up Wayne Enterprises new science project. “I’ve been getting into some ectoplasmic sciences, and there is a lot we can do with it once I got past the craziness.”

“Yeah, my parents made a self generating energy source from ectoplasm,” Danny added as he pulled up some of their science. “It can be hard to understand, but once you catch the pattern, it’s easy to use.”

“The space between spaces,” Red whispered looking it over. “Holy crap, that’s amazing. Does it affect the Ghost Zone?”

“Not really. The entire Ghost Zone is made up of ectoplasm. It can be recycled easily through a filter,” Danny explained as he pulled up the blueprints for the ecto generator. “Ectoplasm is dangerous if not used correctly, and it fuses easily with emotions.”

“Wait, can it create more like you?” Red asked looking over the information.

“No, that took a lot of power and a lot of luck,” Danny said as he pulled up information on himself from the Guys in White. “Besides, I think I was exposed to ectoplasm over the course of a lifetime that made it possible for me to survive that kind of blast.”

“In other words there’s only two hybrids we have to worry about,” Bruce said looking at Danny who looked off to the side at Damian.

“Three, but the other is my clone,” Danny corrected with a small smile. “Vlad’s been trying to clone me as well, and well, she’s stable, but not very powerful. She has basic ghost powers, but won’t develop as many as I have. She’s more ghost than me while Vlad is more human.”

“You’re the middle ground then,” Damian said looking at Danny. He knew about Danielle, but not about how much more ghost she was. Danny barely touched on the subject of his past with Vlad. What Damian did know was from piecing together what Danny told him, Danny’s nightmares, and the little research he did do.

“Yeah, the balance between the worlds,” Danny said as he smiled at Damian. “It’s kinda weird, to be honest, to be part of two worlds.”

“Well, let’s save them then,” Hood said pulling a gun out and putting it in the middle. “You guys have a plan, now where is the lowlife who’s been hurting our little Robin’s boyfriend?”

* * *

 

**Metropolis**

“You honestly think that Batman is protecting the boy now?” Vlad asked with a laugh. Daniel had enough trust issues with adults that there was no way that he would trust Batman. Not someone he doesn’t know well, and no one truly knew who the Batman was.

“He’s with my son, he trusts him,” Talia informed glaring at the man. She wanted to kill him, but the only way to get Damian’s father out of the way was to play nice with the psycho who needed put down. “And my son, however foolish, does trust his father.”

“I doubt Daniel would tell him what exactly he is, and that’s where we can break that trust,” Vlad said with an air around him that screamed he was better than everyone. Talia wondered if she should just kill him and the freak of nature.

“I highly doubt he didn’t. Damian doesn’t trust easily. Whatever caused them to trust other needs to be broken,” Talia said glaring at the man. She did not trust him, and he seemed far too easy going after learning what exactly their organization did and who they were. It made her uneasy.

“Yes, well, neither does Daniel; I made sure of that,” Vlad informed her. “It didn’t take long for me to ruin that.”

“Yes, well, we’ll see,” Talia growled glaring at him. Their plan had better work, and to get rid of the Bat family would be an added bonus. She already had plans for Nightwing and Red Hood.

They already ruined the relationship with Red Robin without them having to interfere.

* * *

 

Damian pushed Danny against the wall as soon as they were in their room and started kissing him relentlessly. Danny pushed back lightly before Damian backed up just enough to let the hybrid breath. Danny let out a small laugh before leaning back against the wall.

“Alright, what’s gotten into you?” Danny asked as Damian leaned back into him and started in on his neck.

“I just…I love you,” Damian whispered into Danny’s skin. Danny tensed lightly before a smile appeared on his face.

“Oh really,” Danny said as he grabbed Damian’s sides and flipped them around making Damian huff out a breath as his back hit the wall. “You love me.”

“Isn’t that what I just said?” Damian asked not quite understanding exactly what Danny was getting at. He knew he loved the hybrid when he faced his past with confidence and fearlessness. Even after all the pain those monsters caused him, he was willing to keep fighting a seemingly losing battle.

At least it was until now.

“I love you too, you dork,” Danny laughed as he started kissing Damian this time. Damian leaned back and let Danny take the lead this time.

* * *

 

“You owe me twenty bucks,” Tim said laughing at Jason’s face when they watched the security camera.

“You do realize that they switch off, right?” Dick added shaking his head at his brothers. If Damian ever found out they started betting on who was top, he was sure that they would end up at the receiving of both Danny and Damian’s wrath. Something he planned on staying very far away.

“It’s not every day you find out that the emotionless can have feelings for someone,” Tim laughed as he took the bill from a grumbling Jason.

“Damian isn’t emotionless; he just hides his very well,” Dick defended. Damian had been different, and he had no plans on ruining that just because of something petty. He was sure that if Damian heard what the two were saying behind his back, that he would try to hide Danny away again. Dick liked Danny. Danny was a challenge to many things, and he made Damian happy.

That’s all Dick ever wanted for the kid.

* * *

 

“Alright, so you know where Vlad’s going to be when he arrives in Gotham. Just remember to be subtle at first before bringing out the big guns,” Dick said looking at Jason. “So be careful.”

“The belt Bruce gave us is supposed to protect us from ghosts, right?” Tim asked as he poked at his newest belt. It was similar to his old one, but with more pockets and a lot easier to hide while not being Red Robin.

“Except Danny,” Dick confirmed looking at Jason. “That belt should be able to prevent another ghost from possessing you like Danny did to Damian.”

“How was Damian okay with that by the way?” Jason asked looking at Dick. “I mean, the kid doesn’t like it when you try to give him hugs, much less anything else.”

“Damian and Danny both knew some of the questions you were going to ask. I’ve see Phantom up close, and quite honestly, he’s a little scary. I think they kinda had that planned,” Dick answered as he looked down. “Damian trusts Danny.”

“That’s weird,” Tim whispered as he toyed with his new gadget. He didn’t think anyone would be able to get the brat to let down his guard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we are...me writing the sequel to this story and posting it before its on ff....actually been having troubles finding time to actually post instead of write though, but whatever... I have two cats lying next to me not wanting to do anything.


	10. Faithful

Incision

Chapter Nine

_Faithful_

_The two most powerful warriors are patience and time._

_Leo Tolstoy_

* * *

 

               Bruce welcomed his guests into his company’s lobby with a warm smile. This was the first step, and Vlad Masters had accepted his invite and should be there shortly. Hopefully with a ruined suit if whatever Jason’s plan was to humiliate him worked.

               Sure enough a few minutes later Masters entered the building with a scowl, but nothing seemed to be stuck on his suit or anything. Bruce narrowed his eyes, clearly he either used his powers freely with his employees, or they knew.

               Bruce had a feeling that they knew.

               “Welcome, Mr. Masters. I’m glad you could come to this,” Bruce greeted him walking up to the man who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there.

               “Yes, I had some trouble, but nothing a few minions can’t take care of,” Vlad answered with a fake smile. Bruce could see right through it and wondered why people believed this guy was good in any sense of the word. Bruce was slightly worried, but Jason was good at what he did. It’s why the cops never caught on to what he was up to.

               “I’m sorry about that. Gotham is full of surprises,” Bruce said with a light smile. Vlad gave him the creeps, and he hunted creeps during the night. Of course Phantom did too, just not to the extreme Vlad was. “So did you take a look at what we were doing?”

               “Trying to create clean energy using ectoplasm as a base,” Vlad said flatly with a slight glare. “I didn’t think anyone else was really all that interested in the Fenton’s Technology. It was always so far out there and unstable.”

               “Well, I was curious after Phantom showed up here in Gotham. On the news they said he was helping Batman with Black Mask?” Bruce brought up Phantom to see what Vlad’s reaction would be. Vlad looked surprised for a moment before shutting back down.

               Danny was clearly a tender spot. _Time to poke at it._

               “Personally I don’t see why people are so afraid of beings that claim to be ghosts after everything we’ve seen. I mean alien invasions and all the crazy clowns around Gotham. There’s no reason not to add ghosts, and we already have some technology to handle them,” Bruce smiled. “I just want to make it better. From want I understand, the Fenton’s were brilliant, but their tech wasn’t all that reliable.”

               “That would be Jack’s. Maddie was brilliant, and she could have gone so far if she wasn’t weighed down by that man’s mistakes,” Vlad sneered making Bruce take a step down. Clearly Danny wasn’t lying about the guy having a thing for his mom.

               “It’s a shame all that went to waste when they killed those two teens,” Bruce added in as they walked into the party. Vlad tensed violently before turning towards Bruce.

               “It was all Jack’s fault. He’s the one that shot the weapon at them, but why they both were convicted is beyond me,” Vlad growled glaring at the man. Bruce raised his hands before backing away.

               “Alright, enjoy the party,” Bruce said as he turned around and left the man to steam. There was something there that told Bruce that it wasn’t the whole story about what happened.

               _It’s time for part two._

* * *

 

               Phantom and Robin slowly made their way through the warehouse that Vlad had rented.

               “Do you think he’s really had time to do anything to it?” Robin asked as they walked around   stacks of boxes.

               “Clearly he was doing something here,” Phantom whispered as he put his hand against one of the boxes. “He hasn’t had time to set up, which is good for us.”

               “We can blind side him,” Robin smiled before something shot at them.

               “Finally, Ghost Child,” Skulker grinned as Phantom hit the wall. Phantom opened his eyes to glare at the ghost. “I will have your pelt.”

               “I thought you worked for Vlad,” Phantom growled flying up and getting into position. They figured they would be attacked. “I didn’t think he wanted me dead.”

               “He’s wants you broken,” a voice said from the ground. Phantom looked down to see a woman with Robin in a headlock and his sword at his throat. “Although I do want you dead.”

               “Great, people I don’t even know what me dead,” Phantom deadpanned before Robin dropped himself to the floor and kicked Talia’s legs from under her.

               “Mother, you should know, you won’t win this,” Robin warned giving Phantom an idea of who they were up against. Phantom turned back to Skulker needing to finish this quickly.

               “I never told Masters who you were. All I want is for you to come and regain your rightful place by my side in the League of Shadow,” Talia said slowly walking towards him. Robin raised his hands ready for a fight.

               Phantom dove down with Skulker right on his tail. Phantom turned and fired at his weapons only for a shield to appear around him.

               “I’ve had a few upgrades, Whelp,” Skulker sneered out before shooting a net. Phantom vanished from sight and reappeared behind Skulker.

               “So have I,” Phantom said darkly before pulling energy from his core. His powers felt different from what he normally pulled, and when he fired, the energy didn’t look any different, but the moment it hit Skulker the green expanded before surrounding Skulker. Phantom looked at his hands as Skulker pulled out a knife.

               “What did you do?” Skulker growled looking down at the green glow around him now. He shot forward and stabbed at a distracted Phantom only to be pulled at the last moment before killing Phantom.

               Phantom felt the blade pierce his side before feeling a pull in his powers, and Skulker vanished in a green light. Phantom let out a groan as he descended to the ground.

               “You really think I’ll join you after everything you’re already done. You tried to kill me,” Robin growled as he pulled out a few batarangs. Talia dropped his sword before pulling out her gun and shooting at him. Robin flipped back away from them and hid behind one of storage crates. Phantom appeared next to him looking shaky.

               “Are you alright? What happened to the ghost?” Robin asked looking around for their other enemy.

               “I’m not entirely sure,” Phantom whispered wincing a little from his wound and the firing of shots. “I shot him, and then he disappeared.”

               “What?” Robin asked looking at Phantom confused before turning around in a instant sensing his mother run out of bullets and reload. He threw a batarang knocking the gun out of her hand. “Nevermind, we can talk about it later.”

               Robin ran out from behind and threw a punch at Talia who blocked it and ducked down into a kick. Robin jumped over it before trying to slam his elbow into her face. She pulled up and stepped back away from it, but felt cold arms wrapped around her before suddenly feeling the floor disappear under her. She twisted around and hit Phantom, only for him to drop her. She landed on the ground only to get hit back by Robin who took the opening Phantom gave him.

               “You little brat,” Talia growled before flipping backwards. “Ya know, Damian, trusting him is a mistake.”

               “The only mistake I’ve made is trusting you,” Robin sneered before running towards her.

               “Ghosts do nothing but lie to get what they want,” Talia warned. “At least I told you what I wanted.”

               “I know what he wants,” Robin said quietly glaring at her. Talia narrowed her eyes before disappearing into the dark shadows. Phantom appeared at his side watching the shadows carefully.

               “Now what?”

               “We figure out why my mother wants you dead and decided to team up with Vlad,” Robin said glaring at the shadows. Robin turned to Phantom to see him holding his side. “Are you injured?”

               “Yeah, Skulker got a hit in before he vanished,” Phantom said feeling the green slime in his hand.

               Hood glared at the three vulture ghosts that were surrounding him.

               “Vis is the punk that Masters vants us to get?” one asked the other two. The other two only shrugged. Hood pulled back one of his guns before firing and smiling when the green bullet hit home.

               “Phantom gave me some toys that deal with ghosts specifically,” Hood grinned before firing at the other two and knocking them down. “Do they ever pack a punch.”

               “We’ll get vou,” a bird growled before spreading his wings and flying at Hood only for him to pull out a thermos.

               “I think I’m the one who got you,” Hood grinned before sucking them in. “Easy, just like Phantom said they would be.” Hood started his way over to Master’s hotel. There was a lot of work needed to be done before the night was over.

* * *

 

               Red Robin was going though Vlad’s security on his private plane. It had been hard, but Danny’s parents were surprisingly good at making inventions that track ghosts. There had been several around, but he was easily able to dodge them all.

               “Alright, this guy is a creep,” Red grumbled looking at the creepy pictures the guy held of Maddie Fenton. “So we’re looking for…oh no.” Red looked over the information on cloning and the possibilities of creating a mix between Phantom and Plasmius and the possibilities of not destroying the Ghost zone, but taking it over.

               “Phantom’s supposed to be their king?” Red whispered as he shifted the information on the defeat of Pariah Dark and exactly what that meant. Red quickly downloaded all the information and wondered if Danny even knew about it.

               He was almost done when he came across another file. He opened it to see that Vlad had been in contact with the League of Shadows.

               “I really hope Danny and Damian know about this,” Red said as he took off with the information he got and wondered what other information was still in the files that he didn’t get a chance to look though.

* * *

 

               Bruce watched Vlad closely during the party. He got one call and disappeared, and Bruce couldn’t find him anywhere. Bruce even opened up the small ghost tracked he had and still nothing. Vlad reappeared a few minutes later looking a bit annoyed, but not seemingly to want to kill everyone just yet.

               Dick walked up next to him and watched as Vlad horribly flirted with a younger girl.

               “He’s super creepy,” Dick whispered carefully. They knew that Danny had super-hearing, but Danny wasn’t sure if Vlad did or not. “But an update like you asked, Talia is working with Vlad to apparently kill Phantom, and Tim says that there’s something we need to see before Danny and Damian get back. Which could be a little while since Phantom got hurt.”

               “How bad is he?” Bruce asked narrowing his eyes at Vlad in anger.

               “Not too bad, but Damian’s patching him up,” Dick answered. “Tim seemed a bit off, and said that there are some things that no longer add up with Danny. He doesn’t trust him.”

               “He might have a point; we don’t know Danny. But we do know Damian,” Bruce said turning back to Dick. “Damian barely trusts us.”

               “He’s blindly trusted the wrong people before,” Dick reminded. “But even when I first met Danny, I felt like I could trust him. There was some sort feeling around him. It made me feel at ease in the beginning.”

               “Then what?” Bruce asked. This was the first time Dick really explained the first meeting with Danny without keeping things out of it to protect the hybrid.

               “He got angry, and I felt fear,” Dick said looking at Bruce. “Danny said ectoplasm can act off emotions, and I don’t think the fear I felt was my own. I think it was Danny’s. I don’t think he could lie even if he wanted to.”

               “That we know of. A lot of his parents’ research was done on the assumption that ghosts do nothing but lie to get what they wanted,” Bruce said. “There’s a lot I don’t know, but I do trust Damian to make the right decision when it comes to Danny.”

               “Even if Danny is working another angle,” Dick asked making Bruce sigh.

               “Honestly? I think Danny just wants to be free from his past,” Bruce said. “I don’t think that angle is really too much to ask.”

               “What if there’s more?”

               “Then we deal with it if it comes.”

* * *

 

               “Will you hold still,” Robin grumbled as he wrapped the bandage around Phantom’s chest to help keep him from bleeding.

               “I’ll heal soon,” Phantom said shifting again making Robin tighten his hold on the wraps and Phantom’s arm.

               “Yes, but it’ll be even faster and safer if you let me wrap this,” Robin said as he finished. Phantom wasn’t sitting very still, but it was at least done. “What’s going on? You usually stay pretty calm when I’m wrapping your injuries.”

               “I don’t know. I feel like something is wrong,” Phantom sighed as he slipped the top part of his suit back on. Robin gently reached forward and started zipping it and making sure that the bandage didn’t get caught.

               “The last time you said something like that, I almost got thrown from a building,” Robin reminded looking at Phantom. “You thought it was nothing.”

* * *

 

_“You need to stop, those types of feeling aren’t reliable,” Damian said crossing his arms and glaring at Danny who was pacing across the small apartment._

_“No, you don’t understand. Something bad is going to happen, and I don’t know what it is,” Danny said waving his hands over his head. “I’m not crazy.”_

_“Fine, listen, I’m going on patrol with Batman, I’ll be back tomorrow,” Damian said turning away from Danny. Danny watched as he walked out the door with wide eyes._

_A couple hours later Robin was being held over a crowd of people while Batman was tied not too far from him. All Danny could see on the news report was Robin’s anger._

_Danny knew something was wrong._

* * *

 

               “You mean we know who the leader of the Ghost Zone is?” Nightwing asked looking over that information with confusion. “Danny would have said something.”

               “If he knew, he wouldn’t have said anything to us, but he may have brought it up to Damian,” Bruce said but continued going though a few other files. “However, I think we should be more worried about this rather than Danny.”

               “Oh my god,” Nightwing whispered. “He killed them just to tortured Danny. He…he didn’t plan on Maddie going down for it all either.”

               “No, that’s what makes this even more dangerous. Danny pushed for his mother to also be convicted. Vlad doesn’t know, but I looked into the records, and Danny pushed for it. It’s almost like he blamed both of them,” Bruce said looking over the information. “Which means both Vlad and Danny know things that the other doesn’t.”

               “Do you think that’s why they always came to a stalemate? The reason why Danny could never beat him. They always had different information and used it against each other,” Nightwing asked realizing that this was much more complicated than just good versus evil.

               “Yeah, and if I’m right, I bet Vlad has something planned to either break or kill Danny,” Bruce added looking at Nightwing. “We have a choice to make.”

               “If we want involved or not?” Nightwing asked knowing his answer.

               “No, if we take Vlad down, or if we should take both of them down,” Bruce growled looking over the information on how the Ghost Zone government worked. “Danny is even more dangerous if he really can hold the power of the king.”

               “I would take Danny’s side,” Nightwing whispered straightening up. “He’s not a criminal nor a bad person.”

               “Even good people do bad things for the right reason,” Bruce said as he stood up and walked out.

* * *

 

_“Danny, are you okay?” Damian asked as the hybrid rocked back and forth. Damian looked around the condo and it was clean, but something was off. Almost like something was missing. “Danny?”_

_“Someone was here,” Danny whispered twitching lightly when Damian gently put his hand on Danny’s back. “They were here. Someone found me…”_

_“Danny, it’s okay. I told you. This was compromised a few weeks ago, but it was the only thing I had that was better than the first place,” Damian said gently pushing the hybrid towards the couch that had clearly seen better days._

_“Someone bad was here,” Danny whispered feeling the evil surround him. It disappeared when Damian gently wrapped his arms around Danny._

_“I’ll find a better place,” Damian whispered remembering the last person who had been here._

_His Grandfather._

 


	11. Open Wounds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I SCREWED UP I SCREWED UP I SCREWED UP

Incision

Chapter Ten

_ Open Wounds _

_ We don’t develop courage by being happy every day. We develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity. _

_ Barbara De Anglis _

* * *

 

Damian gently pulled the bandage off of Danny who winced lightly. It wasn’t nearly as bloody as it had been two hours ago, but it wasn’t healing nearly as fast as normal.

“I guess he wasn’t lying about the upgrades,” Danny whispered sending a reassuring smile to Damian. Although Damian was pretty sure Danny was trying to reassure himself more than anything.

“Yeah, well, at least it is healing,” Damian said with a small glare. “You didn’t want me to wrap it remember? It would have been worse if I hadn’t.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Danny laughed as Damian put new bandages over it again. “We need to get back to the Cave and see what exactly Tim found on Masters. And we need to see what he had planned for that warehouse or if he just wanted to draw me out. And of course we can’t forget about the next part of our plan.”

“Are you going to be okay?” Damian asked as Danny started heading to the door of their apartment. “I mean, it’s been a while since you were stopping the bad guys.”

“Hey, I stopped Freeze didn’t I?” Danny reminded with a small smile. Damian only tilted his head and narrowed his eyes at Danny who looked down. “I’m sure I’ll have a freak out later, but honestly, I’m feeling pretty good right now. Besides from the obvious.”

“Alright, but you’ll let me know if anything changes then?” Damian said watching his boyfriend carefully. Damian knew there were times when Danny didn’t want to admit weakness, but Danny was getting better about at least telling Damian that something was wrong even when he never really said anything specific.

“Where are Danny and Damian?” Dick asked as he turned to Tim and Jason. “I mean they should have been here by now unless the injury was worse than Damian let on.”

“From what I understand Danny was stabbed,” Tim said as he was spinning around in the chair at the computer. “But then again, maybe Danny decided it was too much for him.”

“Masters Damian and Danny are both upstairs with Master Bruce,” Alfred informed as he picked up a dirty tray from their dinner. “I would suggest that you stay down here. Bruce wants to see what they say without the inference of the three of you.”

“Whatever you say,” Jason sighed as he played with his knife. Tim turned around back to the computer and started typing on it again.

“Do you really think that Danny could one day lead the entire Ghost Zone?” Tim asked as he pulled up the file. “I mean, he defeated the King of All Ghosts basically by himself. That makes him dangerous.”

“Yeah, but his town was in trouble,” Dick said as he leaned against the computer that Tim was on. “Danny doesn’t really seem like the leader type unless it’s necessary.”

“He seems to follow Damian more than anything. Which I think is the scariest part of this whole thing. The Demon Child would have access to some of the strongest powers known to man,” Jason said as he looked up at the computer that was scrolling through in the information on the Ghost Zone government and politics that Vlad had.

“I don’t think Danny would really follow Damian into crazy territory. He actually might stop Damian from nearly killing people,” Dick mused looking up. “I think they work more like a team rather than one just following the other. Plus, you have to take in Danny’s past and how they met.”

“But we don’t know how they met,” Tim reminded looking at Dick. “Damian never told us. We just know that they’ve known each other for over a year, and that they are having sex.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s more than just sex,” Dick said under his breath. Both Jason and Tim believed that Damian was just using Danny for his own personal gain, and it was starting to get on Dick’s nerves. He was there when Damian showed his protective side with Danny. Damian wouldn’t have gone as far as he did if he didn’t truly care about Danny to begin with. “Look up what was happening in Gotham about thirteen to fourteen months ago. Maybe Damian didn’t meet him as Damian, but as Robin.”

“Why would that matter?” Tim asked looking at Dick in confusion.

“Because, Einstein, maybe Danny was in trouble and Robin saved his sorry ass,” Jason said with a glare. “They could have met that way. Besides that long ago? I don’t think there was much going on.”

“There were some small things, but nothing bad enough that really needed the attention of the Batman. There was a store that was being robbed on a regular basic until one day it was broken into, but nothing was taken,” Tim said as he kept scrolling. Dick stopped him at that one.

“It says that the only things being taken were food and water. Along with some bandages and other small toiletries,” Dick whispered looking over it and remembering a fight between Bruce and Damian about how they could also take care of the small things instead of relying on the police to handle it since they clearly weren’t.

“So? Someone didn’t have money and decided to take what they needed,” Jason shrugged as he threw his knife in the air and caught it again. “Doesn’t necessary mean anything.”

“Yeah, but Danny’s been relying a lot on Damian to get him housing,” Dick said standing straight up and facing his two brothers. “Danny wouldn’t be the kind of person to steal just to steal, but he might if he was desperate.”

“Wait, you think Damian went after Danny for thief and then decided to help him instead?” Tim asked. “That doesn’t sound like something Damian would do.”

“I would if the person was injured,” Damian growled from the doorway. “What the hell are you guys doing?”

“Trying to figure out how you two met?” Dick questioned seeing the anger in Damian’s eyes. Anger he hasn’t seen in a long time. For over a year.

Since Damian started hanging out with Danny.

“I don’t think it’s any of your business,” Damian sneered stomping over to the computer and turning it off.

“Damian, that’s enough,” Bruce ordered as he came through the door with Danny. Both Jason and Tim sat up a little straighter when their mentor entered.

“Father, they were…” Damian was cut off by a glare from Bruce.

“They have reason to be suspicious,” Bruce said as he looked over to Danny who looked away from everyone. “Danny hasn’t been entirely honest with all of us.” Danny turned to him with a glare.

“I don’t trust you,” Danny defended himself while Damian growled lowly under his breath.

His father always had to ruin everything for him.

“I expect the full truth if you want my help,” Bruce informed as he walked over to the computer. “You can give it now, or I can open it on the screen.”

“Go ahead and open it,” Damian growled glaring at Bruce. There wasn’t much that Danny didn’t tell him, but he had a feeling that this was something that Danny didn’t want to talk about. Bruce glared at Damian who put on a mask.

Whatever was coming on that screen, he wasn’t going to let his father see his surprise. He trusted Danny’s decision to keep certain things to himself.

* * *

 

**MastersCorp-Gotham City**

“You mean you were absolutely useless,” Talia growled glaring at the ghost that Vlad had sent with her. He was supposedly the Ghost Zone Greatest Hunter, and she wondered why they thought that the Ghost Zone was such if a threat if it was true.

She couldn’t wait until they found a way into that place and destroy it. They were clearly useless creatures.

“Phantom sent me to the Ghost Zone with his powers,” Skulker growled angrily. “He shouldn’t be able to do that. No ghost can just send someone to the Ghost Zone. Sure they can create portals, but not the way Phantom did it.”

“He’s getting stronger,” Vlad whispered from his chair. He had been listening to the two go back and forth about that fight, but something was wrong.

Daniel shouldn’t have been able to do that. He shouldn’t be growing stronger. The Guys in White were supposed to have stopped that. Vlad gave them the technology that should have halted Daniel’s power growth.

“Do you have a plan to actually take care of him then? Why do you even want him?” Talia asked angrily. “He’s too dangerous to be kept alive.”

“You’re right,” Vlad decided. Daniel was too dangerous, and Daniel may know too much about his plans already. If he wanted to rule the Ghost Zone and then wage war on the Real World and take all the power, then Daniel needed to be dealt with.

“So I can hunt the boy?” Skulker grinned. “I know I got a good shot on him before…”

“No,” Talia cut in. “The League can do it. We are trained in the ways of ensuring anything dies.”

“How about you both just go at it,” Vlad growled glaring at the two. “Then if there’s two people trying to kill Daniel, then one of you should at least succeed.”

“Very well,” Skulker said as he disappeared. Talia crossed her arms before turning to Vlad.

“I don’t know how you got ghosts to work for you, but once their realm is destroyed, won’t you lose them?” Talia asked. Ra’s had gotten to Vlad with the plan, and Vlad had been happy to let them know about the Fenton Portal and where it was and how to get to it in order to help set the balance of the world. Even if the man never knew it was from them hacking into the Guys in White.

“My dear, ghosts have done nothing but be a pain since I was in college,” Vlad said as he stood up and walked around his desk. “It easy to use them if you have a common goal. They’re one track minded beings after all.”

“Like killing the freak of nature,” Talia guessed. Something was wrong. There was more to the story that Vlad wasn’t telling her, and she was going to figure it out.

But first things first were that she needed to get rid of the Ghostboy.

* * *

 

“You never told anyone that you were being abused,” Bruce said as the charges against his parents were crossing the screen. “It’s why they were both charged to the extreme.” Damian swallowed lightly. He knew about them hunting Phantom, but not that they had been hurting Danny.

“They didn’t like the fact that you were taking the side of ghosts against everything they had been teaching you,” Dick continued on as he clicked on the next page. “It didn’t start much later after an attack on the mayor. It was blamed on Phantom and with your sister gone, you defended yourself.”

“Danny?” Damian whispered turning to him. Danny never said anything about his parents being abusive. Danny did tell him that they were overly protective and eccentric. Danny looked down and took a step back.

“It was a year before someone figured it out, and then you begged them not to say anything,” Tim whispered. “Four days later, they were found dead. Why?”

“It was another two months before your friends and sister were killed,” Jason said looking at the hybrid knowing that feeling. His father was much the same. “Did they ever know?”

“No, no one but Mrs. Nightingale,” Danny whispered wrapping his arms around himself. Damian slowly walked up to him. “She was the only one who even noticed something was wrong. She even figured out Phantom.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Damian asked softly. He knew about the murders and how the Fenton Parents ended up in prison. Danny told him about the labs and the pain, but he never informed him of how his parents treated him.

“I didn’t tell anyone,” Danny whispered. “Please, just stop.”

“There’s more,” Bruce said. He needed to test the relationship of them. He needed to know if Danny could really be trusted or if they had to take him down. “After you stopped the Ghost King…”

“I know,” Danny growled suddenly glaring at Bruce with toxic green eyes. The air temperature dropped making everyone tense. “I know what it meant, but I didn’t take it. I left them be as it was after he was locked away the first time. Okay, I don’t need that. I told them I would protect them, but I wasn’t taking the mantle.”

“Father, that’s enough,” Damian demanded glaring at his father as well. He may not have known what exactly was going on, or what it was that Danny had been hiding, but he respected Danny to have his secrets. Everyone had their secrets. “We have bigger problems to deal with such as Plasmius. Why are you attacking Danny?”

“Because he was keeping things from both of us,” Bruce answered not sure if he was proud that Damian was fighting for Danny or mad that Damian wouldn’t see the reason behind what they were doing by putting Danny on the spot.

“We all have secrets, Father. That doesn’t mean we have to tell them all,” Damian said going to cross his arms before turning and standing beside Danny and grabbing his hand instead. “It shouldn’t matter. Danny’s not the problem. Mother and Vlad Masters are. We should be going after them.”

“How’d Vlad even know?” Danny whispered looking up at them. “Vlad shouldn’t have known.”

“He had a file on it,” Tim said as he brought up that part again. “He believed that Jack Fenton was beating you.”

“It’s wasn’t Jack,” Danny whispered holding tightly to Damian’s hand. “It was my mother.”

“He was surprised that they also charged her,” Bruce said as he looked to the screen.

“I pushed for them to charge her, but I didn’t want anyone to know about the abuse. I was afraid of Vlad trying to come after me if I did anything that hurt her. My dad would’ve taken the blame, but my mom…something broke when…Jazz died,” Danny said knowing that wasn’t it. It started before then. It started when he had a misunderstanding in one of his classes, but they didn’t need to know that. Not now, and hopefully not ever.

* * *

 

_“Daniel James Fenton, get your ass down here right now,” Maddie demanded from the bottom of the stairs. She held his report in her shaking hands. She couldn’t believe it. Danny had failed his math class. He could make it up, but the fact that he wasn’t trying was starting to get on her nerves._

_“Yeah, Mom?” Danny called back at the top of the stairs. He hadn’t really heard his mom scream like that before. She was always so mild mannered and easy going. Even when he did screw up._

_“Get down here,” Maddie repeated with a glare. Danny slowly made his way and stared at the report card in her hand._

_Oh, the first one that didn’t have his corrected score._

_“Hey, uh, that’s not actually…” Danny was cut off by his mother slapping him across the face. He stood in shocked silence as she ranted on about how Fentons weren’t failures._

_Every word felt like it cut into him._

_Two weeks later the corrected score came in, Danny made sure no one seen it._

_He had passed with an A-._

* * *

 

Vlad paced the room. Talia had been holding out on him. The entire League had been. Ra’s had come to him to ask about the unchecked ghost attacks that were still plaguing Amity Park, and Vlad had given him the same answer that he had given to the Guys in White.

The only way to stop the ghosts was to destroy the Ghost Zone.

While Vlad didn’t plan on completely erasing the Ghost Zone, he did want a good chunk of it destroyed so that those annoying self righteous ghosts would know that he was the one that held the power of the King and not that little insolent brat.

He pulled out some paperwork that was from the Guys in White and seen that there had been multiple hacking attempts in the last 24 hours, and that one had been from his own private jet. Someone had gotten into his jet.

“I swear, I’m going to end that little brat,” Vlad vowed as he stood up and headed for his bathroom. Only his floor caved in as he walked across it.

“BUTTER BISCUITS!”

* * *

 

“Danny, are you alright?” Damian asked as he lead Danny up to his room. Bruce and the rest of them wanted to go over everything, but all Danny wanted to do was disappear again and stay gone. They sat down on the bed.

“Not really,” Danny whispered burying his head in his hands. “I feel like everything just fell apart. They don’t trust me, which I could’ve handled, but they threw it in my face.”

“I…I know. Bruce has a habit of making people uncomfortable and making things worse before getting things fixed,” Damian said as he pulled Danny close and gently rubbed his back. “Those were things you didn’t want people to know, and he should have respected that. It didn’t have anything to do with taking Plasmius down.”

“He thought I was fighting Plasmius for the crown,” Danny muttered looking away from Damian. “I didn’t want it. I actually ended up getting more respect by turning it away than if I had taken it. The Ghost Zone is running just fine the way it is. I promised them that I would keep the peace between the two worlds.”

“That’s why you wanted to get back into the hero business,” Damian realized with a small smile. Danny was the type of person to put others before himself, only now he had Damian who was putting him before anyone else. “You made the right choice. You’d make a great leader, but you make an even better protector.”

“I haven’t been much of one lately,” Danny sighed as he leaned into Damian side and taking in the comfort that was offered. “I’ve been hiding.”

“You were protecting them by hiding. Those guys would have used you as a weapon and you know that,” Damian said sternly. “Don’t let that make you any less of a hero than you already are.”

“Thanks, Damian,” Danny smiled.

* * *

 

“Well that went well,” Dick said sarcastically. Now both Danny and Damian were pissed at them.

“It needed to be done,” Bruce said glaring at the screen. “Masters might not know entirely what had been happening behind closed doors, but Damian needed to.”

“To do what exactly? Break the trust that was between the two? Or was it more like you wanted to see how far to take it until one of them broke?” Dick asked angrily. “They’ve been together for a while, and you just have to push the moment you learn about them. This is why Damian hid it from you, hid it from all of us. He knew you would do this. And if you had done this a year ago, Damian would have dropped Danny right then and there for not telling him everything that was in his life. Are you happy now?”

“Danny wasn’t completely honest about when the abuse started,” Bruce deflected. He didn’t want to bring it up, but Damian needed to know in order to help the hybrid in this fight. Maddie had disappeared again, and he wasn’t entirely sure why that was. He had a meeting with Jack Fenton tomorrow as Batman, and he was going to figure out what exactly had been going on one way or another.

“Bruce, let it go. Help them take down Plasmius, and leave it alone. Damian can make his own decisions, and this is by far one of the ones we should be supporting,” Dick said before leaving Bruce to his own thoughts.

* * *

 

Jack Fenton knew something was wrong when the guard came by and told him that he was going to have a visitor in the early morning. As in three in the morning.

His wife had been acting weird since the death of Sam and Tucker, and Danny, his poor son, was so lost without them all. It had taken them three months to be charged, and then Danny disappeared. Four days later the police came and arrested them both for murder. Jack didn’t understand why Maddie was also arrested, but he knew that they were both partly to blame.

They should have known that going after Phantom was a bad idea. He should have known something was wrong.

He should have known that Danny had been Phantom from the beginning. There were so many slips and almost that Jack should have seen it.

Maybe if he had been a better father, he would have seen the issues sooner and realized that something was seriously wrong and not just normal teenage drama.

He should have seen the signs.

So now he’s waiting in a cell for a meeting with the Dark Knight and the only thing he is hoping for is that his son is still alive.

That he hadn’t failed in hacking into that lab.

* * *

 

“So, you turned it down, and now most of the ghosts would be willing to back you instead of Plasmius and that pisses him off?” Jason asked as he leaned against the wall. Danny sighed while he sat on the couch.

“That’s putting it lightly. I’ve made a lot of powerful friends by accident in the Ghost Zone, and any portal that opens near Amity, will open near them. It’s how I had a line of defense between the really malevolent ghosts and the normal ones that just attacked Amity without killing anyone,” Danny said as he looked at Jason. “It’s a lot of politics, that I don’t fully understand, but its probably the only reason I am able to fight back. Vlad has allies in the Ghost Zone as well, but they’re paid for. My allies help me because they like me.”

“Those are the best ones,” Jason smiled lightly. Danny had been an interesting person to talk about the unknown, and the more time Jason spent with him, the more Jason wondered how in the hell Danny would date someone like Damian of all people. “So, what’s up with you and Damian?”

“What do you mean?” Danny asked with a light glare.

“It’s not bad, its just…Damian isn’t really emotional or anything…like ever,” Jason said looking at Danny confused. “He’s always been straight forward and shows nearly no remorse for anything.”

“He does, you just don’t see it. He doesn’t show it the way you do, or the way Bruce does. He holds it in until he breaks,” Danny explained. “You just have to know what to look for. I’ve been there. Being unable to show that you can feel. It’s hard and takes a lot out of you, especially if you start to question the people who are supposed to be supporting you.”

“I think I understand why Damian kept you hidden for so long then,” Jason smiled. “You kept him from taking it out on others.”

“That and I’m amazing in bed,” Danny grinned making Jason turn slightly red. “I also have really great puns.”

“No, I can take your word for both of those things,” Jason said turning away and heading out the door. Alfred walked in with an eyebrow raised at Jason’s red face.

“My word, he never seems to be embarrassed by anything. What did you say?” Alfred asked looking at Danny. Danny only smiled.

“You don’t want to know.”

 


	12. Future Endeavors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I SKIPPED TEN CAUSE I"M A MORON GO BACK GO BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Incision

Chapter Eleven

_ Future Endeavors _

_ A hero has the power to move the world. A true hero has the power to destroy the world but chooses not to despite what the world thinks of them. _

_ Joseph Patrick Lyons _

* * *

 

Jack swallowed lightly seeing Batman glaring at him from the other side of the table. It was hard to tell what the man was thinking with the knowledge about Phantom’s escape that Jack had just told him.

“You’re telling me, that you were able to convince the parent’s of the kids you admitted to killing to help you to rescue Phantom from that lab,” Batman repeated shortly. It would make some sense if Jack had found out that his son was Phantom. But only if it was after Phantom’s first capture.

“I told them that their children were heroes. That they had been saving Amity Park behind the scenes with my son,” Jack said with nervousness. This wasn’t the way he wanted the conversation to go. He just wanted information that Phantom was safe.

That his son was still alive after all the mistakes that he had made. That his wife had made.

“So they just went along with your plan to overload the systems there and weaken the shield keeping Phantom in,” Batman said watching Jack carefully. He was almost completely different in viewpoints from his wife. Maddie had been violent and would have rather died than be saved by her own son, but Jack wanted to save his son. “What happened back in Amity when Sam and Tucker were killed?”

“I knew something was wrong, but I don’t remember firing,” Jack whispered looking down. He remembered seeing the crater in front of his home, but not how it got there. He put it together when he noticed the smoking end of his weapon.

* * *

_“Maddie?” Jack whispered as his wife ran down the road chasing the ghost boy. There was something wrong; he didn’t remember how he got there._

_He remembered saying something about missing, but that was about it. He walked closer to the crater and could barely make out the outline of two bodies and horror washed through him._

_He killed two humans._

_Jack looked back at his weapon. It wasn’t designed to harm humans. If anything, it was supposed to be turned down some to prevent this sort of thing. Jack wondered who they were until he noticed the PDA in the hand of one of the bodies. He swallowed. It could’ve have been anyone._

_But Jack knew that something was wrong._

_He didn’t remember pulling the trigger or even how he got out there and why he was to begin with._

* * *

“I thought I could have blocked it out, but then again, I think I may have been overshadowed,” Jack said looking at his hands that were cuffed to the table. “I told them that. I had hoped it was enough. They wanted proof, and I gave what I had to them. The Foley’s pulled a lot together in order to find Phantom after the lab was destroyed, but nothing had come up. The Mansons were looking into other things trying to pinpoint where Danny could’ve gone, but they couldn’t find anything either.”

“Do you know where your wife could have escaped to?” Batman asked making Jack look up at him.

“Her sister lives in Spittoon in Arkansas,” Jack answered. “She’s gone there before when we had a fight, but I don’t know if she would now or not.”

“Did you know she was beating your son before he was captured?” Batman asked glaring at the man.

“I knew something was wrong, but no…I didn’t think she would have gone that far. He was her baby,” Jack whispered feeling the beginning of tears. He should have done something sooner.

He should have known.

* * *

“So, you collapsed the building,” Dick asked glaring at Jason who was grinning ear to ear.

“Damn right, now he has to find a hotel that’s willing to take him,” Jason laughed as they watched the tracker go to another hotel.

“You’ve destroyed four high end hotels,” Dick said sharply. “And made sure that they knew it was Masters that was the center.”

“You said to keep him busy,” Jason smiled. “And besides, the ghosts he sent after me are still in the thermos that Danny gave me. I’m not letting them out anytime soon. Honestly, I think it could have saved Danny a lot of headache if he just left them in there to begin with.”

“Danny said he’s been in one, and that’s it’s not that fun,” Dick reminded crossing his arms and leaning against the Bat-computer. “Now, that you’ve managed to give Mr. Masters the headaches of all headaches, I think it’s time we put together the next part.”

“That’s where Red comes in and deletes everything right?” Jason asked with a grin. “I wanna go with him just in case there are anymore ghosts.”

“I think you’re having way too much fun ghost hunting,” Dick muttered as he headed up.

* * *

“This is the first time I’ve ever really had a good plan against Plasmius,” Danny said as he helped Damian put on his uniform. Damian didn’t need it, but Danny liked to help anyway since he just changed into Phantom.

“Well, you have a team that has dealt with psychos like him before,” Damian said as he tightened his belt. “Plus, with your help, I’m sure we can take him down. If he had decided to come at us without us knowing about you and your powers, then we may not have stood a chance.”

“Ghosts are hard to beat especially if you don’t have the right equipment,” Danny sighed as he clipped the cape in place around Damian’s neck. Danny smoothed it out hoping it would help his nerves a bit.

“You know you can do this,” Damian smiled. “And you gave us the right equipment, so you shouldn’t be too worried.”

“I’m always going to worry,” Danny said placing a kiss on Damian’s cheek. “It’s part of my personality.”

“Alright,” Damian said as he picked up his mask and put it on. Danny swallowed lightly as Damian put his hands on Danny’s shoulder. “Your turn.”

A white light snapped around Danny’s waist and went though Damian like he wasn’t even there. Damian felt a sharp sense of cold as the ring passed over him, but he watched as the jumpsuit of Phantom appeared in white light. He looked into Danny’s eyes and watched as power blazed in them before green overtook the blue that Damian loved. Although he was starting to love the bright green as well.

“Are you ready?” Robin asked as Phantom looked down at the ground for a moment and bringing his hand up to look at the white gloves.

“As I’ll ever be I guess,” Phantom whispered looking at Robin. “Let’s end this.”

* * *

_“Your homework for tonight is to do the even numbers between 4 and 26,” Lancer said as he wrote it up on the board. Danny felt like the world was collapsing, but nothing new had been happening. His friends were sitting next to him, and his sister had been bothering him more than normal about avoiding the Guys In White._

_Nothing new was going on, but he knew there was something that was going to wrong, and soon._

_“Yo, Danny, the bell rang like two minutes ago, you there, buddy?” Tucker asked waving his hand in front of Danny’s face._

_“Yeah, just…feel like something is wrong,” Danny smiled a little. “I’m sure it nothing.”_

* * *

“Everything set up?” Red asked as he stood on the end of the building with Nightwing.

“Yep, Hood has at least four traps set, and he’s having way too much fun ghost hunting,” Nightwing informed as he looked down at his computer. “Phantom and Robin should be arriving on scene shortly.”

“This is insane,” Red muttered as he readied his line to jump down. “What about Batman?”

“He should already be inside the building,” Nightwing said as he pulled up a map of the Vlad Co. Building. “Since Hood managed to discourage every hotel from allowing him to stay, he’s been staying here. We have him cornered.”

“That’s the point,” Red smiled as he looked up and watched as a green streak shot by, and they could just barely see another person being held by Phantom. “That’s our queue to go.” Both jumped down and shot off towards the building.

Vlad had no chance.

Phantom shot through the ceiling and landed softly on the ground. Robin pulled out his sword and prepared for anything.

“If you feel overwhelmed, just remember your training. Vlad may have more practice with his powers, but he doesn’t have the same skill set that you do, nor does he have the League of Assassin’s training that you do,” Robin reminded. Phantom nodded his head with a small smile as they started heading through the room.

“I know; he also doesn’t have the backup that I do,” Phantom said as he looked over at a picture on the wall. Vlad sitting stop a great white horse, and nothing but fury went though Phantom seeing the man had destroyed everything. “I don’t think it should be too much problem anyway.”

“Good, cause we’re not alone,” Robin whispered as fourteen assassins jumped down from the ceiling. “Why are they still working with him?”

“I’m sure you know why,” Talia said as she entered from behind them. “Mr. Masters told me plenty about how to deal with ghosts. Phantom, you should just surrender and let us rid the world of your kind.”

“Not gonna happen, Lady,” Phantom growled lighting up his hands in energy. The green pulsed making the room seemingly darker. Every human there suddenly felt the need to run, but the only thing keeping them from doing so was their training and the fear of what Talia would do to them.

“You aren’t going to leave this room alive, Freak,” Talia growled raising her sword. It was slightly glowing, and both Phantom and Robin knew that it would hurt ghosts. Robin raised his sword in response as the assassins boxed them. Phantom looked around at them all before getting an idea. They were afraid.

Even if they didn’t look like it, Damian had told him that there were times when the atmosphere around him would affect how others felt. He was going to use it to his advantage then.

“That’s kinda the fun part about this,” Phantom joked with a smile making Robin turn to him. “I’m already dead.” Phantom shot a bright beam into the ceiling before forcing the freezing cold in his core out into the ground. Ice crawled across the floor making it hard to stand on as Phantom floated lightly above it. Robin stood his ground having practiced with Phantom’s ice before. It was harder than normal ice and three times as slick.

“You think that’s gonna stop me from destroying you?” Talia growled remaining light on her feet. She wasn’t completely off balance, but it was very close. The ice made it hard for her to move freely, but she wasn’t going to stop.

Robin activated the sharp tread on his boots that he designed for this to give him an edge in case this ever happened. Two of the assassins went after him with their swords raised. He blocked both hits and rounded in a kick that took them both out.

Phantom was at his back fighting off four of them that came at him. Phantom fired two beams at two of them and sent them into a wall preventing them from getting back up. Phantom blocked a sword with his armor and head-butted him into the ground before diving up and twisting in the air sending cold air towards three more.

Robin twisted around on his side when one of the guys slid by him. Robin brought his sword up and slammed it down on one of the assassin’s head before turning around and blocking a punch that was aimed for his face. Robin narrowed his eyes before ducking down low and coming up under the man before bashing the other guy’s head and knocking him out. Robin turned to make sure Phantom was okay before flipping out of the way of another attack.

Talia growled out before running towards Phantom with her sword raised. Phantom twisted and jumped out of the way when she slammed the sword down. Phantom twisted back with a small smile. Talia raised her sword again and carefully stepped to the side. The ice was making it tricky, and she knew that both Robin and Phantom had an upper hand even though they had been thrown off with their arrival.

The ceiling was blasted in as Skulker shot forward and had taken Phantom into the ground, disappearing. Robin called out, but stopped before turning and kicking the last assassin that was standing. Robin turned to Talia with a glare.

“Why do you hate Phantom so much?” Robin asked with a growl at she blocked his sword with her own. Robin could feel the energy that was in that sword.

“He shouldn’t exist,” Talia growled. “He’s cheated death.”

“So have we all,” Robin shot back before turning around quickly and using gravity to his advantage and slipping by her defenses and delivering a quick punch to her stomach making her bend over in pain before she twisted around and whacked him in the face.

“Yes, but it is dead, and therefore needs eliminating,” Talia said as she kicked him away from her. “You should know that we can’t let powers like that exist.”

“Danny’s not the problem,” Robin growled and glared at her. “You do know that Vlad has the same powers that you should have gone after him first.”

“Well, thanks for the information; I’ll be sure to kill him next,” Talia said as she turned down the hallway and ran. That was information she was not prepared for.

Which meant that she was next on the list to be killed after Phantom died.

* * *

“Whelp, we meet for the last time,” Skulker growled as he aimed and fired at the hybrid.

“Not likely,” Phantom said as he dodged the beams. “But hey, if you want this to be the last time. Can I at least ask what happened last time when you vanished? Couldn’t handle the fight?”

“You don’t know what you did?” Skulker asked surprised and took a step back from the hybrid. Phantom looked at his hands and noticed that the energy changed. The green was lighter.

“Not really, just that without you, the fight was easy. Of course it wasn’t that difficult with you either,” Phantom taunted with narrowed eyes. At least he didn’t accidently kill the annoying hunter.

“You sent me directly to the…” Skulker was cut off as he was enveloped in white light and disappeared into the thermos.

“Do all your enemies just talk instead of fight?” Hood asked with a grin. Red crossed his arms and glared at Hood.

“Yes, actually,” Phantom said feeling his energy change again. Something new was happening, and he knew it was another ghost power. “It might just be a problem that ghosts have too.”

“Nah, every bad guy we face has that problem,” Nightwing said as he climbed over the wreckage after over hearing them. “Any idea where Plasmius is?”

“Not yet, Robin is fighting Talia,” Phantom said looking up at the ceiling.

“Hey, I’ll help Robin; you two go with Phantom and find Plasmius,” Nightwing ordered as he headed towards a doorway that led to stairs up to the next floor.

“Any idea where…” Hood started to ask only for a green shield to appear in front of the two of them when a pink blast shot out of the shadows.

“You brought backup,” Plasmius sneered as he appeared. “How cute. Couldn’t handle me yourself?”

“No, but at least I know my limits in what I can and can’t do,” Phantom growled. Suddenly something shot out of the dark and hit Plasmius in the back sending him into the ground. Plasmius growled as he stood up from the crater and growled at the shadows that he had been hiding in.

“It’s highly unlikely you’re going to get out this one, Vlad Masters,” Batman made a point to let the man know that he knew exactly what he was dealing with. Plasmius growled before turning to Phantom.

“You told them,” he accused as he lit his hands up with deadly pink energy. Phantom only smirked.

“I told them everything,” Phantom said as he let the green energy form in his hands. “Everything from the moment I met you.” Phantom fired and Plasmius met his blast and redirected it.

“You insolent little brat,” Plasmius growled flying up at Phantom only to be knocked down by a blast from Hood who was holding a smoking ecto gun.

“As we speak, the police are on their way to arrest you for your crimes,” Batman informed as he held up a glowing green batarang. “You’ve lost.”

“Are you sure?” Plasmius growled before turning suddenly and firing at the wall making it explode. Robin fell out of the hole made and hit the ground. Phantom’s eyes widened before narrowing at the smirking Plasmius. “Talia told me about your little crush on her son. Figured I could…”

Plasmius was cut off by Phantom slamming into him and crashing him into the ground. Plasmius growled lowly before glaring at the hybrid, but the look that Phantom was giving him sent chills down his spine. Green energy was surrounding the hybrid. Deadly green tendrils grabbed at Plasmius and kept him down.

“You are done hurting the ones I love,” Phantom warned as Plasmius felt that energy tear into his ghost form. “You killed them; it was all your fault.”

“I…” Plasmius felt the energy tear into him. Plasmius screamed as Phantom let his power unleash.

“Phantom!” Batman yelled as he felt the air shift into something dangerous. They could all feel the anger. Nightwing ran over to Robin who was groaning and slowly pulling himself out of the hole he was in.

“What hit me?” Robin muttered shaking his head. The air was cold and something sharp was stinging his arm. He looked at it and noticed that it was probably broken, again.

“Plasmius,” Nightwing whispered and looked over to Phantom whose eyes had gone white and power was coming off him in waves. “Your boyfriend’s pissed.”

“No,” Robin said softly seeing the power.

“You are done hurting others,” Phantom said with venom. Plasmius screamed as he felt his powers leave before blasting away from Phantom quickly. Phantom flipped in the air before landing on the ground in a crouch. Plasmius skidded across the floor before coming to rest against the wall. He  slowly stood up and watched as Phantom slowly stalked closely to him.

“You aren’t going to stop me,” Plasmius sneered before vanishing in pink smoke.

* * *

* * *

 


	13. Renewal

Incision

Chapter Twelve

_Renewal_

_The greatest test of courage on earth is to bear defeat without losing heart._

_Robert Green Ingersoll_

* * *

Phantom pulled his hand back and fired at Plasmius who threw up a shield and deflected it before shooting back with his own blasts. Phantom weaved away from them before slamming Plasmius into the portal making it fall on itself.

"I'll stop at nothing to end you," Phantom growled before lighting up his hand with energy and blasting the wall in. Plasmius just barely got out of the way in time before the wall crumpled. Plasmius turned invisible hoping to regain some breath and energy. "Show yourself, you coward."

Plasmius slipped behind the ghost and raised his hand to fire, but that energy that the child had powered up before wasn't something he had ever came across before. Not in this world or the Ghost Zone. This was unknown, and Plasmius wasn't sure if he would be able to handle another bout of that energy without help.

* * *

"I've almost erased all of the information regarding hybrids and Phantom," Red said as Batman and him worked on shutting it all down. "Did…did you know about this?"

"I did," Nightwing said as he looked over the information gathered from their experiments. One type stood out against the rest.

"How?" Batman asked looking at Nightwing. Even when he first got a hold of the file, that information wasn't there.

"Robin told me after one of Danny's nightmares," Nightwing answered looking down. "I think Danny had been dealing with it for a long time, and Damian…Damian was the only one who seen a way to save him."

"I've looked into Amity Park before, but I never had the time to look into it until after Phantom disappeared," Batman said feeling like he had failed the kid once before. He wasn't going to let it happen again. He had already thought that the hero was dead before. "After Phantom disappeared the attacks in Amity decreased for about four months before they became overwhelming."

"That's about when the Fentons were arrested," Red said as he looked over some of the files before they were deleted. "It's all like everything was falling apart at once in Danny's life."

"That's what Plasmius wanted," Batman said glaring at the files. "He wanted Danny to give into him. So he took everything away."

"That's why Danny attacked when Plasmius shot Damian," Red whispered seeing that Danny's support system had been ripped from him.

"Yes, which is why Robin and Hood are looking for Phantom now," Nightwing whispered hoping that Damian could stop Danny from crossing that line.

* * *

"I don't like this," Robin growled as he held his arm close to his chest. It was starting to hurt, but he wasn't going to let them know. He wasn't going to let them go after Phantom. He had done nothing wrong.

"Bossman's orders, but when have I ever listened?" Hood smiled. "Besides, I like your boyfriend; he doesn't take your crap." Robin narrowed his eyes at Hood and wondered if stabbing him would be worth it.

"Let's just find him," Robin said as they headed down a set of stairs. Robin hoped they were close. He wasn't sure how much more he could take.

* * *

"You've taken everything from me," Phantom growled sending a blast at Plasmius. "And now I get to do the same. They know who you are and what you've done. You're finished."

"You think this is only world I control," Plasmius sneered pulling the stab of concrete off himself. Phantom was getting stronger, and Plasmius wondered exactly why Phantom seemed so strong. He should be wearing down by now. "I'll rule the Ghost Zone soon, Little Badger, and there is nothing you can…"

"I'm sworn to protect the Ghost Zone," Phantom said pulling energy together in his hands. It condensed into white light as Phantom flew up in the air. His cloak blew out from behind him making the air turn cold. "Until my dying breath and even then." The energy crackled before Phantom fired it looking slightly demonic. Plasmius threw up a shield, but when the energy connected, the beam shattered it before sending Plasmius back into another wall.

"You…" Plasmius coughed up ectoplasm and felt like his powers were wavering. That he was losing his powers and running low. He looked up at Phantom, and there wasn't even anything to show that Phantom was doing the same.

The boy had gotten stronger since the last time they battled. Plasmius ducked down and tried to hit Phantom in the gut, only for the hybrid the slam his arm away and mash his fist into Plasmius's face. Phantom ducked down to avoid a blast to his own face and kicked Plasmius back down to the ground.

* * *

"Someone is fighting down here," Hood said as they started running down the stairs. Robin stopped seeing Phantom pick Plasmius up by his neckline and growl in his face before lighting his hands up in energy and aiming it for Plasmius's chest.

"Danny, don't," Robin called out stopping the hybrid from firing. Phantom looked up and seen the two standing in the doorway. Plasmius blinked slightly trying to clear the clouds in his mind. "This isn't how things work; he's down, that's enough."

"He won't stop until he's dead," Phantom growled feeling the energy crackle to his command again. Plasmius screamed as pain laced his being. Robin pulled out his sword and threw it at Phantom making the hybrid drop Plasmius to the ground where a black ring of light appeared around his waist changing him back into his human form. The sword stuck in the ground between the two hybrids and Phantom turned to him.

"That's enough," Robin ordered as he ran up to Phantom who was now glaring at him. Green energy surrounded them before dying out. "It's over, he's beaten."

"It'll never be over," Phantom growled once more feeling that same energy he used on Skulker that sent the ghost somewhere else. Phantom turned it to Vlad who was staring at him in shock before screaming in pain again when the blast hit him.

"No!" Robin screamed as Vlad fell unconscious and into the debris around him. Phantom lowered himself to the ground where Robin was standing. Robin turned to him before Phantom collapsed feeling the energy start to drain from him.

"What did he do?" Hood asked as he checked for a pulse from Vlad. "The guy's alive, barely, but he's alive." Robin kneeled down next to Phantom who was on his knees.

"Danny?" Robin asked gently resting his hand on Phantom's back. He could feel the shaking of the hybrid and wondered if this was too much after all.

"I'm okay," Phantom whispered looking up at them. "He can't hurt anyone with his powers anymore."

"You took his powers away?" Hood asked as he laid the man out on his side and cuffed him in ghost proof cuffs just in case.

"I think so," Phantom said as Robin helped him stand. "You're hurt."

"I'll be okay," Robin assured glad that Phantom hadn't crossed a line that he wouldn't have been able to come back from. "Just needs some care."

"I don't feel too good," Phantom whispered closing his eyes. He should be changing back now. He felt weak, but yet, his powers weren't leaving him. He could still his human half, but it was buried.

Like his powers were still trying to balance themselves out.

"Well, it's over for now," Hood said as he helped the two out of the crater. "The others should be done wiping the system."

"Good," Robin whispered gently pulling Phantom's arm over his shoulder when the hybrid nearly collapsed again. Phantom looked over to Vlad who groaned and rolled up glaring at Phantom.

"I will be back," Vlad promised pulling at the cuffs. He realized he couldn't phase though them and that he couldn't feel his ghost half at all. "I won't be…" Vlad was cut off by Robin ducking down and nailing Vlad in the head with his boot.

"I think it's time you realize that it's over," Robin sneered as he adjusted Phantom slightly to ease the pressure on his arm. "Let's go."

"We'll meet them outside; Batman should have gotten a hold of Gordon already," Hood informed as they walked out after ensuring that Vlad was secured.

* * *

"How is he?" Dick asked as Damian glared at his cast.

"He still hasn't been able to change back," Damian said quietly. "He hasn't really talked to me about it. I think he's still trying to pretend that nothing has changed, but there are times where he just kinda stares into space."

"So he's just been going about things normally?" Dick asked seeing how much this was affecting Damian. Damian never let anything get to him, and a year ago, Damian would have brushed it all off like there was nothing wrong. "How's that working?"

"He's closed off more than he ever really has," Damian said softly crossing his arms and looking up at Dick. "I don't know what to do. This is the first time he's been like this, even after everything, he's never really shut me out before. We may not have told each other everything, but he wouldn't just shut down."

"He needs time. I can talk to Carney and see if she would be willing to come and talk to him?" Dick asked. Damian shook his head.

"I won't trick him. I'll ask him if it's okay before we do that," Damian decided before standing up. "I'm going to stay with him for a couple days and see if he won't open up on his own. I know it's been a week, but he's been by himself for most of it."

"Good luck," Dick called out as Damian left.

* * *

"You're protected now," Waller said handing Phantom a paper. Phantom was leaning against the wall of his apartment. He was slightly annoyed at the fact that someone showed up unannounced and unwanted, but she wasn't giving bad news. Not yet anyway.

"You mean just me, as I am," Phantom whispered glaring at her. "Any other ghost is still free game for the government to go after."

"Change takes time, Phantom. And we've been following you for a while. Long before you were captured in Amity. You're harder to track, and Masters wasn't really on our radar as something going wrong," Waller said as she pulled out more files. "I've pulled strings because I know that there are powers in the Ghost Zone that you can stop."

"I've heard things about ARGUS while I was in that lab," Phantom informed looking at her. "What do you want from me?"

"You're powerful, and I would like you're help in shutting down the Guys in White," Waller said being straight with the ghost. She couldn't risk him going rogue or turning against her. She needed this relationship. Phantom would be a powerful ally, and from her research, he was loyal as long as he wasn't lied to. She could keep most of secrets she needed to from him since it wouldn't directly involve him anyway.

Besides, she only really needed the Guys in White shut down before they ruined any of her operations. They already destroyed her credibility in Amity Park, and she wasn't going to stop until she took them down. She did not take disobedience well, especially when it came to the incompetent dumbasses running the Guys in White.

"I don't know," Phantom whispered looking down and feeling small. He wanted them gone; he didn't want to have to worry about them coming after him. "There's not a lot I can do. They want me dead."

"You took down Masters," Waller reminded watching the hybrid carefully. She was going to get what she wanted no matter what, but if she could play it right, Phantom would be more than willing to help her when the time comes. And if she played it right, she wouldn't have to worry about him turning on her. "That actually put a big dent in their funds. They will have to cut a lot back since Masters funded most of what they did. You've already helped."

"Can I ask a couple favors then?" Phantom asked looking at her. Waller knew that the kid wasn't much in the way of asking the impossible; he was much too humble for that. She would rather deal with him than the Justice League any day.

"Go ahead," Waller encouraged as Phantom pulled out a file from the stack.

"I want my mother brought up on charges for abuse and my father…can you lessen his sentence? If what I think happened did, then he wasn't the one that killed them," Phantom said showing her the file that he printed after finding out that Masters was the one who killed everyone. "This should help."

"That shouldn't be too much of problem," Waller said looking it over. It wouldn't take much really, all she needed to do would be to put it through. Phantom had everything else. "Anything else?"

"Can you get me soul ownership of the Fenton Patents? I don't want anyone else thinking they can redesign my parent's weapons," Phantom asked looking at Waller closely.

"It's understandable why you don't, but ARGUS does have some of those weapons," Waller said with narrow eyes. She wasn't just going to hand over weapons that her teams use in combat.

"You can keep what you have, you can use them, I just don't want my parents going back into Ghost Hunting. What they designed has a knack for finding me for whatever reason. You already know how to find me clearly," Phantom said crossing his arms. "So please, I just don't want anyone else to have access. I want to start it from scratch again anyway. Something better that doesn't harm ghosts the way my parents' designs did."

"You promise to sign a deal with ARGUS first and I'll make that happen," Waller offered. She wanted a department she could trust with the ghost problem, and if Phantom was willing to help in that without too much issue, then it would just make her job that much easier.

"Deal," Phantom smiled shaking her hand. "Have you found my mother yet?"

* * *

Damian sat on the couch and watched Phantom move around in the kitchen. He was quiet and it unnerved Damian slightly. Danny had always made some noise.

"Danny?" Damian called to him seeing Phantom's shoulders tense before turning around.

"Yeah?"

"Can you come here?" Damian asked needing to talk to Phantom. He been trying to avoid it for the past day, but he couldn't keep seeing his boyfriend beating himself up for no reason.

"Hang on," Phantom said as he put down the plates he'd been washing. He knew that this wasn't going to go well.

He knew everything had been too good to last. Just like it was with Sam. There was always something. Phantom walked in and sat down on the other side of the couch keeping some distance between him and Damian. Damian moved so he was closer to Phantom and gently rested his knee against the hybrid's hoping it would help ground him.

"I know Dick brought it up earlier, but do you want to talk to Canary?" Damian asked watching Phantom tense before turning to him with questioning eyes. "You don't have to, but I think it would help."

"I…okay," Phantom whispered looking down. He didn't want to lose Damian, and he was afraid that he was going to. Damian reached over to him and gave him a hug.

"I'll let Dick know when I see him," Damian whispered in Phantom's ear. Damian held him tightly before pushing him against the arm of the couch. He could feel the light shaking that was going though Phantom's body, and he wasn't to let go anytime soon. It took a couple moments before Phantom wrapped his own arms around Damian.

Phantom was cold, but that wasn't going to stop Damian from ensuring that his boyfriend was alright. He glared at his cast slightly knowing it was a problem too.

But they were still together, and he wasn't to give that up just because of this.

* * *

"Who are you?" Jack asked seeing the lady enter the room and sit across from him.

"The charges against you have dropped due to certain evidence coming to light about Masters," she informed him as she opened a file she carried in. "My name is Amanda Waller, and I have a proposition for you."

"I'm not interested," Jack said looking down at the table. His hands were un-cuffed, but he knew that he deserved to be there.

"I just ensured all the Fenton Patents were signed into your son's name. He has total control of FentonWorks, and he just signed both of you out," Waller said as she showed him the paperwork. Jack was glad that his son has that access to them, but he didn't understand why she was informing him of this. "I want you to work for me in helping me stop the Guys in White from destroying the Ghost Zone. Unlike them, I have professionals who understand the consequences of such actions."

"Those monsters destroyed my family and hurt my son," Jack growled lowly. "I'll do whatever it takes to take them down."

"Good," Waller smiled. Her plan was coming together nicely. Only two things left before she had control of the ghost problem. And she could finally show that they didn't need the Justice League for every little thing that attacks them.

* * *

"Everything is gone," O growled glaring at the blank screen. "Phantom destroyed everything."

"Well, at least we still have the weapons," K sighed looking over at the partly taken apart weapons. "At least half the staff is gone now, and there are several arrest warrants for us now. Why can't they see how dangerous it is to protect those ghosts?"

"Phantom's tricking them," O guessed glaring at the symbol that was left on the screen.

It was the insignia of Danny Phantom.

* * *

Damian rolled over and wrapped himself around Danny. He was warm and comfortable and did not want to get up anytime soon. Light shined over his face making him bury his face into Danny's neck. It took him a moment to realize exactly how warm Danny was. He opened his eyes to black hair instead of white.

Danny had shifted sometime during the night. For the past week, he'd been Phantom and had been distance and concerned about it. Damian had hope that it was temporary, but had promised to himself that he was going to stay by Danny no matter what.

"Hey, Danny," Damian whispered softly in his ear. "Wake up." Danny groaned and shifted into Damian more, but didn't move. "You're human."

"I just want to sleep," Danny mumbled into the pillow. It took a couple minutes to register what Damian said before he shot up and forward making Damian roll away. "Oh my god," Danny said looking at his hands and his hair. He was human again for the first time in a long time.

"You alright?" Damian asked sitting up and gently leaning against Danny. "You look a little star struck, and to be honest, I would be jealous if you looked at anyone but me that way." Danny looked at the smile that Damian had before he tackled Damian back into the bed with a kiss.

"I was so scared that I destroyed my human half," Danny said as he leaned up. Damian laid under him with a small laugh.

"You've been human the whole time from the time I find you till about three months ago. It was bound to try to even itself out eventually," Damian said as he gently traced Danny's cheeks. The warmth was back and Danny looked so happy.

He leaned up for a kiss and made sure Danny knew exactly how much he loved him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more before it's over. However, Laceration isn't finished, however I could post a chapter when I'm done or you can wait and I can update it like this one has been.
> 
> It might be a few months before its finished however so it would be a longer wait, and mostly that's just me having time to write. I'm still ongoing.
> 
> Also let me know what you guys want to see in the sequel. Characters that are here in this one are all in the next one and then some. It'll probably be longer as well. There's a lot that going on at once in it.
> 
> I think you guys will like it though.
> 
> I could also post a chapter everytime I finished one cause I do have several already written and done.
> 
> So let me know what you wanna see and any ideas you may have.
> 
> I might post the prologue just so you guys know what it's going to be like.
> 
> So review and tell me what you like or didn't like and what you may want to see in the next one.


	14. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here we are. At the end of this journey but not quite done yet.  
> This is only the beginning of the story.

Incision

_Epilogue_

_I don’t believe you ever get closure on anything. Things leave a permanent mark on you._

_Allison Anders_

* * *

 

               Bruce glared at the screen. Of course Waller would get involved, he just hoped that Danny knew what he was doing. Bruce didn’t have a problem with the fact that the government wanted a team that they could use, but he didn’t like their methods of handling things.

               He didn’t want Damian or Danny dragged into that mess at all.

               Bruce hacked into the network and planned to keep a close eye on it all just in case they decided that Phantom would be too big of threat to keep alive.

               Bruce hoped the only reason Waller was interested would be because Phantom would make a powerful and loyal ally and that she wasn’t planning on hurting him anymore than he already was.

* * *

 

               Waller knocked on the door to the run down apartment. A young woman appeared in the doorway and glared at her.

               “What do you want?” she asked unkindly. Waller smiled at her.

               “An old friend of yours says you’d be perfect for a job,” she said. “May I come in, Ms. Grey?”

* * *

 

               Phantom shook his head as Red came at him. They all wanted to practice their ghost fighting skills since he officially started patrolling with Robin. Phantom shifted to the side before swinging back and knocking Red down to the ground. He could hear Damian laughing from the sidelines.

               “If you think you can do better, then you come try,” Red growled holding on to his shoulder from Phantom’s hits. Damian laughed again before jumping down and facing his boyfriend.

* * *

 

               Waller walked into the cell and glared at the woman in the strait jacket.

               “You were hard to find, I’ll give you that, but what I don’t understand is why a woman like you would throw everything away just because of a belief that isn’t even founded in science?” Waller asked as she crossed her arms. “You ended up here in Arkham anyway.”

               “He killed my son,” Maddie growled standing up and pulling at the jacket. “You let him get away from me.”

               “Yet you never even considered that he was your son the whole time,” Waller said calmly. “Now, he wants nothing to do with you or your husband, and as for you? Well, now you get to sit here and listen to everything that your son is going to accomplish because your son is a hero, and I don’t say that lightly.”

               “He’ll turn his back on all of you,” Maddie warned hanging her. “He will; it’s only a matter of time.” Waller looked over to the doctor that just walked in.

               “Hello, my name is Dr. Hugo Strange, and I’ll be treating you.”

 

* * *

* * *

 

_…what I enjoy in a narrative is not directly its content or even its structure, but rather the Abrasions I impose upon the fine surface. I read on, I skip, I look up, I dip in again. Which has nothing to do with the deep Lacerations the text of bliss inflicts upon Language itself, and not upon the simple temporarily of its reading._

_~Roland Barthes_

**Author's Note:**

> I was so excited about this stupid story. I have the entire thing already typed out and its finished. All Thirteen fucking chapters. I WANT TO CRY I"M SO PROUD OF MYSELF  
> However, this is only edited by me and will not post the next one unless one of two things happen.  
> I get a bunch of comments, or  
> my beta gets chapter two done.  
> She still has one to do and another story... so there's that.


End file.
